Improving Access to High-Quality Teachers in Underdeveloped Areas: Evidence from Free Teacher Education in China

Abstract

This paper investigates the effects of China’s Free Teacher Education (FTE) program on recruiting prospective teachers in a rural and highly racially diverse province, Ningxia. We employ administrative data on all high school graduates in Ningxia from 2003 to 2018 to examine the trends of students’ college-major decisions during three phases of the FTE. We find that the introduction of the FTE substantially motivated minority and rural students toward teaching-track degrees at the affiliated colleges. The subsequent FTE amendments attracted high-achieving students through improved fringe benefits but lowered the admission probability of economically disadvantaged students in Ningxia. We conducted a factorial survey experiment at a large public high school in Ningxia to isolate the stimulating effect of individual FTE terms. Results show that highlighting the funding source and removing service commitment could effectively motivate poor students toward the teaching profession.

Keywords: financial incentives, teacher education, college choice, China