The Role of Secondary Education Tuition Fees in Enrollment Behavior in Malawi

This study employs a regression discontinuity design to estimate the impact of tuition fees on secondary school enrollment in Malawi. We provide evidence that tuition fees act as a signicant barrier to enrollment at the secondary school level. Moreover, we estimate that enrollment is about 17.5-20.2 percentage points (33,602-38,756 students in 2011) lower than it would have been if tuition were free. The total cost of subsidizing secondary tuition is approximately 16.04 million USD in the rst year of implementation, and increases in each subsequent year to a total of 73.48 millions USD after four years.