The Land of the Fee: The Effect of Baden-Württemberg's Tuition Fee on International Student Outcomes

Despite the increasing number of students learning abroad, little is known about the way international students migrate and how policies influence their decision. This article evaluates one German state’s recent policy to charge international students for tuition, while tertiary education remains free elsewhere. For my difference-in-differences analysis, I collect and combine publicly available records for German higher education institutions since 1998. I find that the international enrollment rate decreases by 2 percentage points at treated institutions, driven by African and Asian students. In contrast to state government motivations, I find no evidence for a short-term decrease in exam failure rates.