Conference Program

The availability of public schooling across educational levels, generally sufficient to meet demand, together with the consolidation in the scientific literature of growing attention to non-economic determinants of access to education—often more incisive than strictly financial constraints—and the increase in disposable household income despite overall income stagnation, have contributed to marginalising the issue of the direct costs of education within the debate on educational inequalities. Moreover, weak labour demand, which particularly disadvantages younger cohorts, has reduced the opportunity cost of remaining in education, thereby reshaping the cost–benefit calculus associated with continued participation in the educational system.

However, in light of theoretical approaches that interpret inequalities as the outcome of the interaction between material resources, socio-cultural capital, and structures of opportunity, the economic dimension cannot be considered residual. First, while the costs of education may not constitute a barrier to access when considered in isolation, they can operate in combination with other constraints, reinforcing cumulative mechanisms of disadvantage. Second, they may shape educational choices, particularly in inner or peripheral areas, where certain tracks entail high transportation costs or the need to study away from home, as well as in the case of schools requiring the purchase of costly materials. Third, the significant gap between the minimum and maximum expenditures associated with school attendance—even when limiting the analysis to expenses strictly related to public education (e.g., school trips, additional textbooks, materials, digital devices, etc.)—may affect not only effective opportunities but also the symbolic and motivational dimensions of the educational experience. From this perspective, costs contribute to shaping the set of educational capabilities effectively available to students.

This paper aims to conduct a systematic review based on secondary sources in order to estimate the cost of education throughout the period of compulsory schooling (ages 4–18), considering different scenarios—geographical location, use of school meals, full-time attendance, chosen field of study, etc.—and different types of households. In a subsequent phase, the study intends to explore, through qualitative research directly involving upper secondary school students, the real and perceived economic barriers that influence educational choices and persistence.

The findings are expected to provide an empirical basis for further investigation, both in terms of strengthening the robustness of the evidence and of analysing more closely the mechanisms through which economic constraints interact with other dimensions of inequality. More directly, they aim to contribute to a theoretically informed reflection on the policies most likely to enhance equity in educational opportunities and to reduce the impact of economic factors on access to and outcomes of education.

In Italy, student grants represent the principal policy mechanism for removing financial barriers to higher education among students from low-income backgrounds. However, insufficient information among potential beneficiaries substantially limits their effectiveness. Previous analyses conducted by IRES Piemonte using administrative data revealed that a considerable proportion of first-time tertiary education entrants at universities in Piedmont do not apply for student grants, despite meeting the eligibility criteria.

The phenomenon of eligible students failing to apply for financial aid is not unique to Italy, although its magnitude and underlying determinants vary across national contexts. In the United States, students report several reasons for not completing the FAFSA, including the perception that they are not eligible or do not need aid, reluctance to incur debt, the perceived complexity of the application process, and limited knowledge about how to apply (Ifill, 2016). In Germany, misconceptions about eligibility and debt aversion - often linked to overestimating repayment obligations - emerge as key barriers (Riedmiller and Strobl, 2025). Additional obstacles include administrative complexity and co-residence with one’s family (Herber and Kalinowski, 2016).

Against this backdrop, our study, conducted on a sample of 6,500 randomly selected high school seniors in Piedmont during the 2022/23 school year, identified a substantial information gap regarding university grants. Most students interviewed lacked basic knowledge about application procedures, eligibility requirements, and even the identity of the grant provider - only 9% were able to correctly identify EDISU Piemonte as the awarding body. We also observed a significant correlation between knowledge of grants and individual characteristics, including gender, grade point average, school track, family background, and participation in guidance activities.

Building on these findings, we implemented a randomized controlled trial (RCT) to assess the causal impact of increasing awareness of financial aid on students’ intentions to enroll in higher education and to apply for grants. The intervention consisted of a 30-minute information session covering eligibility criteria, application procedures, and award amounts. Results indicate that even this relatively modest intervention generated a positive and statistically significant effect on both university enrollment and the probability of submitting a grant application. The effects were particularly pronounced among students who reported economic uncertainty as a factor in their educational decision-making.

Within the Italian context, this study contributes to a relatively underexplored field. Although a related RCT has been conducted (Abbiati et al., 2017), that study was based on partially different research questions and a more complex intervention design. Internationally, the literature is more extensive and predominantly US-based. Herbaut and Geven (2020) provide a comprehensive review of more than twenty RCTs conducted across different countries to estimate the impact of information and guidance interventions on university enrollment. Their findings underscore the need for additional evidence across diverse national contexts, given the heterogeneity of results.

By examining the role of information in post-secondary educational choices, this study contributes to the debate on higher education access. Importantly, it also carries policy implications: timely and targeted dissemination of financial aid information may represent a lever to increase university participation in Italy.

Absolute poverty affects over 9.7% of the Italian population, with higher incidence in the southern regions and among households with at least a foreign member and the presence of minors (ISTAT, 2023). Poverty together with low financial inclusion influences social mobility. Research has consistently shown that Italy ranks among the lowest in the European Union for intergenerational mobility, meaning that children from low-income families have fewer opportunities to improve their socioeconomic status compared to their peers in other European countries (Balestra & Ciani, 2022). Low levels of financial inclusion such as limited access to financial products and services paired with low financial literacy further exacerbate financial fragility (Artisei et al., 2025) and families’ capacity to make informed economic decisions (Lusardi, 2019) about household budgeting, savings, and long-term planning, even more so when it comes to savings to cover their child’s future education. Social mobility and education are interlinked: a family’s financial prosperity plays an important role in shaping a child’s education opportunities. Wealth grants families a range of benefits, including the ability to draw upon stable resources for school provisions and extracurricular activities, as well as greater peace of mind when committing to long-term endeavours. Increasing access to educational opportunities for youth from disadvantaged backgrounds is thus pivotal to tackle issues of educational inequality and social mobility. Within this context, programmes of incentivised saving inspired by US ‘children’s savings accounts’ (Chen & Elliot, 2020) have emerged in Italy as valid instruments to act on disadvantaged families’ capacity to save and offer their children adequate support for their education and extra-curricular activities. PUOI is a programme of incentivised saving that targets middle-to-low-income families in the province of Cuneo with the aim of supporting academic and personal development of students aged 12-16 through a dedicated savings account that includes a savings match rate mechanism and educational guidance support for the student and their family. Inspired by similar national programmes such as “Will” and “Will-To”, PUOI provides an ideal context to investigate families’ attitudes towards these types of programmes in Italy. Despite PUOI offering to multiply participants’ savings, recruitment rates have been lower than expected. This may be because families affected by poverty are far from homogeneous, differences in demographic and personal circumstances may generate distinct barriers. For some families, the requirement to contribute a small amount on a regular basis may prove financially burdensome, particularly when income is unstable, the perceived complexity of navigating a new programme amid the pressures of everyday financial hardship, and the sustained commitment demanded of both students and their families to partake in project educational activities. Beyond these practical barriers, fear of fraud or financial loss also plays a relevant role. When implementing these types of programmes, targeting matters. In this study, we explore attitudes of families towards incentivised savings programmes as well as possible barriers hindering participation. We also explore how despite the shared economic challenges diversity amongst families experiencing financial hardship exists, underscoring the complexity but also the need to provide tailored support.

School-related economic difficulties represent a critical yet
underexplored dimension of educational inequality, with parental perceptions
of financial strain related to school playing a pivotal role in
shaping adolescents’ educational trajectories and pathway choices. Despite
growing interest in the socioeconomic determinants of educational
decisions, the literature has predominantly relied on general measures of
economic hardship, lacking domain-specific instruments capable of capturing
the specific financial pressures families face within educational
contexts [1].
This study addresses this gap by developing and validating a novel psychometric
measure of school-related economic difficulties tailored to the
Italian educational system. Data were collected from 2,215 parents of
children aged 12–16 through a structured online questionnaire administered
between July and August 2025 as part of the EduCAR Youth
project. Quota sampling based on geographical area and municipality
size ensured national representativeness. The sample comprised 55.6%
women and 44.4% men, predominantly aged 45–54 years. Educational
attainment was relatively high, with 51.3% of families including at least
one university graduate. Children were predominantly enrolled in upper
secondary school (62.6%), with academic tracks (licei) being the most
common choice (64.2%).
We employed Item Response Theory (IRT) to construct the measurement
scale, specifically utilizing a two-parameter logistic (2PL) model to assess
dichotomous responses capturing whether families had experienced
financial strain across specific school-related domains [2, 3]. An initial
pool of eight items was subjected to exploratory factor analysis, which
revealed a clear unidimensional structure. One item was removed due
to local dependence. The final seven-item scale covers domains including
the purchase of textbooks and school supplies, access to private tutoring,

digital equipment for studying, participation in school trips, foreign language
courses, and school choice. The instrument demonstrated excellent
internal consistency reliability (ω = 0.94), with all items exhibiting high
discrimination parameters (a range: 2.22–3.16), satisfactory item-level
fit statistics (S-χ2 non-significant; RMSEA well below 0.08 for all items)
and a high TIF = 12, on the moderate-to-high difficulty range (b range:
0.39-1.25). Yen’s Q3 statistics confirmed the absence of problematic local
dependence across all final item pairs.
The distribution of latent trait estimates showed moderate positive skewness
(M = 0.29, SD = 0.66, skewness = 0.77), with the majority of families
reporting relatively low school-related economic difficulties, while
a substantial minority experienced significant financial strain. Systematic
group differences emerged across a range of sociodemographic and
educational characteristics. Younger parents, residents of Southern and
Central Italy, single-parent households, larger families, and those with
lower occupational status and educational attainment reported significantly
higher levels of difficulty. Regarding educational variables, higher
difficulty levels were associated with enrollment in technical institutes
and use of educational support services.
The validated seven-item scale offers a concise, psychometrically robust
instrument for identifying families at risk of educational deprivation and
for supporting the design of targeted educational policies and interventions.
Future research should examine longitudinal relationships between
perceived economic difficulties and actual educational outcomes, assess
cross-cultural validity beyond the Italian context, and integrate objective
socioeconomic indicators to complement self-report data.

Education is considered as a significant parameter in Human Development Index (HDI) according to the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) that measures the development of a particular nation’s education policy and its implementation at the grass root level. It is a key indicator in measuring the knowledge and skills attained by the larger population, leading to employment opportunities that furthers an individual’s or a household’s standard of living and upward social mobility. Karnataka, as a state in India, prides itself upon its highest school enrolment rates in the country along with an overall literacy rate of 75.6% as per the 2011 census. Despite these considerable achievements, the state paints rather a gloomy picture with regard to the educational participation of the tribal populations of the state. Individuals belonging to the tribal communities often have to face multiple challenges in their path to secure a decent education. The economic factor becomes a major determinant in their decision and desire to be part of the institutionalized education system, that promises stable income and a secure life. The paper aims to examine the role and influence of economic factors in decision-making regarding one’s education among the tribal communities in Karnataka.

The study is derived from the primary data collected through personal interviews with the tribal community members across Karnataka (1057 respondents). The analysis is structured from a variety of variables that are intersectional in nature and provide a wholistic socio-economic conditions of the tribal population. The study employs descriptive statistical analysis along with cross-tabulation in understanding the relationship between educational participation and socio-economic conditions of the group. Initial trajectories of the study indicate towards that hypothesis that economic conditions significantly factor into educational decision-making of the population, despite the state’s efforts to ensure free education till matriculation for all. Households with low annual income exhibit greater difficulties in their path to attain education that involves direct as well as hidden costs of education. In many instances, education is considered an activity that doesn’t aid their immediate living conditions since the household loses on daily wages when a family member decides to go to school instead of choosing to work either as a daily wage labour or as an unskilled labour either temporarily or on contract basis. The analysis also considers occupation as a significant variable that factors into educational participation of the community members.

Further, the study contributes towards the discussion on education in a democratically driven society wherein education policy and its execution often meet the needs of only a select few. Tribal individuals who have multiple hurdles to cross in their paths to education do not form the primary stakeholders in state’s education policy. The study underscores the importance of financial constraints in shaping the tribal households’ aspirations.

Acknowledgement: The authors appreciate the financial assistance provided by the Indian Council of Social Science Research to conduct the field data survey as part of the minor research project.