THE IMPACT OF STUDENT EXPENSES ON THE DEMAND FOR HIGHER EDUCATION SERVICES

Even though European higher education systems are mostly publicly funded, private co-financing has become increasingly important. Taking into account individual and social benefits and costs of higher education, the task of social, educational and economic policy makers is to determine the ratio of private and public expenditure with a view to boosting economic growth and development. In doing so, they should have enough information on how individual expenses and state aid affect the number of students, as well as on trends and intensities of that impact. The lack of the above-mentioned information is especially evident in Central and Eastern European countries due to their transition to market economy. Therefore, the aim of this research is to examine, using the mentioned sample of countries, the impact of net costs of studying on the demand for higher education services. The results of multiple linear regression demonstrate how tuition fees and public support, indicators of net costs of studying, then GDP per capita and number of graduated students, positively affect the relative number of enrolled college students. The indirect impact of tuition fees is the most dominant one, as they positively affect the dependent variable through the effect of supply.