An investigation into the relationship between selected economic variables and diploma and degree uptake

There are varying intuitive theories amongst industry participants about what contributes to the consumption levels of the educational product. In this article empirical evidence was sought to explore and validate the factors that influence that uptake, with the emphasis being on monetary factors. A model was created using economic variables in a New Zealand setting. The assumption was made that in today’s user pays environment, the business reality for education is that individual product demand is largely price driven and the overall market is one governed by commercial instincts, rather than by a variety of other altruistic imperatives, e.g. cognitive pleasure. On that basis the variables in the model were chosen. Data were considered for the uptake of both degree and diploma studies and it was concluded that the types of students enrolling for degree courses are different to those enrolling for diplomas. The signs of the explanatory variables, with the exception of the consumer price index, were as expected.