Updating Tertiary Education Expectations and Choices with Learning

Abstract

This paper conducts a large-scale study on how students revise their educational expectations and change their post-secondary education (PSE) pathways. I find evidence that an important determinant is exposure to unexpected information on the quality of match between their ability and the academic difficulty of the program. This relationship is non-linear and responsive only to unexpected information that signals a mismatch. In Canada almost 19% of freshman experience a PSE path disruption, which entails a public and private cost. Policy measures targeting student consultation to improve the quality of match could reduce this inefficiency.

Keywords: Tertiary Education, Major Switch, Drop-out, Expectations, Grades

JEL Classification: C21, I21