Creative Education

Volume 9, Issue 16 (December 2018)

ISSN Print: 2151-4755   ISSN Online: 2151-4771

Google-based Impact Factor: 1.02  Citations  h5-index & Ranking

Returns to Investment in Higher Education: Is There a Difference between Distance Learning and Traditional Universities in the Fields of Physics, Mathematics, Social Studies, Computer Science and Economics?

HTML  XML Download Download as PDF (Size: 410KB)  PP. 2920-2938  
DOI: 10.4236/ce.2018.916220    770 Downloads   1,684 Views  Citations

ABSTRACT

In this paperwe extend the literature on the rate of returns to Investment in Higher Education towards studies in distance learning Universities. In particular, we explore the difference in returns between, on one hand, graduates of a distance learning university (the Hellenic Open University, HOU) and on the other hand, graduates from two traditional universities, in Greece. The data used in the analysis is collected with field research from graduates of Physics, Mathematics, Social Studies, Computer Science and Economics. Our findings show that the rate of return to investment in education for HOU graduates is about four times higher than that of the graduates of the two traditional Universities, for the first degree graduates and about double the rate for the Master’s degree graduates. From policy perspective, our results suggest that a distance learning University may not only be considered as a second chance to education for mature students, often facing time and budget restrictions, but, it may also be seen as a worthwhile investment enabling much higher private returns compared to the alternative route, i.e. following studies in traditional universities. Therefore, distance learning universities may be used by policy authorities as a vehicle to reduce income inequalities and increase social mobility.

Share and Cite:

Agiomirgianakis, G. , Lianos, T. and Tsounis, N. (2018) Returns to Investment in Higher Education: Is There a Difference between Distance Learning and Traditional Universities in the Fields of Physics, Mathematics, Social Studies, Computer Science and Economics?. Creative Education, 9, 2920-2938. doi: 10.4236/ce.2018.916220.

Cited by

[1] Οι εκπαιδευτικές ανάγκες, τα κίνητρα και τα εμπόδια των αποφοίτων νηπιαγωγών για τη συμμετοχή τους σε προγράμματα εκπαίδευσης ενηλίκων: η περίπτωση των …
2019
[2] Relations of University Values and Competences of University Teachers
2019
[3] Οι εκπαιδευτικές ανάγκες, τα κίνητρα και τα εμπόδια των αποφοίτων νηπιαγωγών για τη συμμετοχή τους σε προγράμματα εκπαίδευσης ενηλίκων: η …
2019
[4] Οι εκπαιδευτικές ανάγκες των Τελωνειακών Υπαλλήλων
2019
[5] Οι εκπαιδευτικές ανάγκες των δικαστικών και εισαγγελικών λειτουργών πρώτου βαθμού ως προς την επαφή τους με τον ανήλικο παθόντα και παραβάτη στο πλαίσιο της …
2019
[6] THE IMPACT OF WORKER'S EDUCATION ON PRODUCTION IN GREECE, 2010-18

Copyright © 2024 by authors and Scientific Research Publishing Inc.

Creative Commons License

This work and the related PDF file are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.