To stay or to move? Freshmen and university accessibility in Italy

The paper analyses the effects of the number of university degree courses available in the province of residence on the probability of studying in that province rather than moving to a different one. The supply of degree courses outside the province of residence is weighted by a spatial matrix where the distance between the province of residence and any other province is imputed in minutes. The results confirm that the probability of enrolling in a faculty located in the same province of residence is positively correlated to the number of courses available. In particular, the probability of enrolling at university in the province of residence is higher for the departments where the attendance is compulsory (i.e. Engineering). The enrolment behaviour of freshmen differs according to gender, with females more sensitive to the supply of local degree courses.