Impact of Some Socio-economic Factors on Higher Education Participation in Turkey

• Published in: Egitim ve Bilim Vol. 36; no. 160; p. 281
• Main Author: Ekinci, C Ergin
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English; Turkish
• Published: Ankara Turk Egitim Dernegi 01-04-2011
• Subjects: Colleges & universities; Dentistry; Disposable income; Educational Attainment; Educational Policy; Family income; Higher education; Households; Literature reviews; Parents & parenting; Participation; Pharmacy; Primary Education; Questionnaires; Rural areas; Socioeconomic factors; Socioeconomic Status; Students; Urban areas; Turkey
• ISSN: 1300-1337

The pupose of this study is to determine the impact of some socioecomnomic factors on higher education participation through the comparison of the socioeconomic status of the students with the same status of the related population in Turkey. The data of the study were obtained through the admistration of a questionnaire to 4910 first year students at various faculties and schools of Cumhuriyet, Erciyes and Hacettepe universities and literature investigation. General results of the study are as follows: (1) Distributions of household of Turkey and students and their annual disposable income by quintiles are similar and household income is not a direct factor on higher education participation. (2) Educational status of parents is a determining factor in higher education participation. (3) The children of parents with higher levels of education and income are over-represented in the programs assumed to be prestigious and high income generating. (4) Higher education institutions serve to students coming from urban areas to a great extent (92 percent).