Tuition fees in Spanish public universities: A regional convergence analysis

Abstract

We examine the regional evolution, dispersion and mobility of Spanish tuition fees using sigma and gamma convergence methodologies. The period of analysis varies depending on the type of study considered, being the maximum period between 1992 and 2014. The analysis reveals an increase of tuition fees over time. With regards to σ-convergence, there has been a growing dispersion of tuition fees of all type of studies considered among Spanish regions: undergraduate degrees adapted and not adapted to the European Higher Education Area (EHEA) as well as master studies (adapted to the EHEA). Moreover, γ-convergence results show an increasing mobility of regions in a ranking of tuition fees in all type of studies (although especially in masters). These results illustrate that the dispersion and mobility of university fees among Spanish regions have increased during a period of decentralisation of the Spanish Higher Education system, adaptation to the EHEA and a new tuition pricing system (since 2012).