Student Perceptions of the Returns to Higher Education in the Czech Republic and the United Kingdom: Evidence from Economics and Business Studies

In many countries the government has been the major paymaster of higher education. There are differences between higher education systems in Europe. In the Czech Republic there is a free entry for students to public universities as well as a support of phenomenon of private universities with fee payments in last couple of years. By contrast in the UK the private sector remains very small and the “marketisation“ of higher education has taken place in the public universities via the introduction of tuition fees. Studies on investment in higher education worldwide have demon-strated both substantial private and social returns. In the vast majority of studies there are found positive returns although they differ according to level of education and for higher education are lower. Results of our survey identify a very close association between student perceptions of the private returns to higher education and the results of earlier studies which have measured the actual private returns.