The Impact of a Senior High School Tuition Relief Program on Poor Junior High School Students in Rural China

34 Pages Posted: 5 Jan 2014 Last revised: 12 Jul 2018

See all articles by Xinxin Chen

Xinxin Chen

Zhejiang Gongshang University (ZJGSU)

Yaojiang Shi

Shaanxi Normal University

Hongmei Yi

School of Advanced Agricultural Sciences, Peking University

Linxiu Zhang

Chinese Academy of Sciences - Center for Chinese Agricultural Policy

Di Mo

Catholic University of Leuven (KUL) - Faculty of Business and Economics (FBE) - LICOS Centre for Institutions and Economic Performance

James Chu

Stanford University, Department of Sociology, Students; Stanford University - Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies

Prashant Kumar Loyalka

Stanford University - Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies

Scott Rozelle

Stanford University - Freeman Spogli Institute of International Studies

Date Written: June 1, 2013

Abstract

A significant gap remains between rural and urban students in the rate of admission to senior high school. One reason for this gap may be high tuition and other school fees at the senior high school level. By reducing student expectations of attending high school, high tuition and school fees can reduce student academic performance in junior high school. In this paper we evaluate the impact of a senior high tuition relief program on the test scores of poor, rural seventh grade students in China. We surveyed three counties in Shaanxi Province and exploit the fact that, while the counties are adjacent to one another and share similar characteristics, only one of the three implemented a tuition relief program. Using several alternative estimation strategies, including difference-in-differences (DD), difference-in-difference-in-differences (DDD), propensity score matching (PSM) and difference-in-differences matching (DDM), we find that the tuition program has a statistically significant and positive impact on the math scores of seventh grade students. More importantly, this program is shown to have the largest (and only significant) impact on the poorest students

Keywords: Tuition relief program, education program evaluation, rural China

JEL Classification: I22, O12, O15

Suggested Citation

Chen, Xinxin and Shi, Yaojiang and Yi, Hongmei and Zhang, Linxiu and Mo, Di and Chu, James and Loyalka, Prashant and Rozelle, Scott, The Impact of a Senior High School Tuition Relief Program on Poor Junior High School Students in Rural China (June 1, 2013). Partnership for Economic Policy Working Paper No. 2013-03, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2374361 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2374361

Xinxin Chen (Contact Author)

Zhejiang Gongshang University (ZJGSU)

Department Of Statistics & Mathematics
Zhejiang
China

Yaojiang Shi

Shaanxi Normal University ( email )

Chang'an Chang'an District
199 South Road
Xi'an, OH Shaanxi Province 710062
China

Hongmei Yi

School of Advanced Agricultural Sciences, Peking University ( email )

Room 412, Wangkezhen Buidling, Peking Unviersity
Beijing, 100871
China

Linxiu Zhang

Chinese Academy of Sciences - Center for Chinese Agricultural Policy ( email )

Anwai, Beijing, 100101
China

Di Mo

Catholic University of Leuven (KUL) - Faculty of Business and Economics (FBE) - LICOS Centre for Institutions and Economic Performance ( email )

Waaistraat 6 - box 3511
Leuven, 3000
Belgium

James Chu

Stanford University, Department of Sociology, Students ( email )

Stanford
United States

Stanford University - Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies ( email )

Stanford, CA 94305
United States

Prashant Loyalka

Stanford University - Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies ( email )

Stanford, CA 94305
United States

Scott Rozelle

Stanford University - Freeman Spogli Institute of International Studies ( email )

Stanford, CA 94305
United States

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