Who bears the brunt : tuition fees and educational mismatch

Exploiting the quasi-experimental introduction of tuition fees in selected federal states of Germany between 2006 and 2014, this study investigates how these fees affect the likelihood of overeducation based on data from the SOEP. Reporting lower bound estimates, the findings show that graduates from fee-charging states are significantly more likely to experience overeducation. There is suggestive evidence that the Intention to Treat Effect (ITT) may be heterogeneous depending on occupational choice after graduation, socioeconomic background and duration of the treatment. Moreover, dynamic analyses reveal that the increase in the likelihood of overeducation due to tuition fee exposure is not short-term but persists for even up to ten years after degree completion.