The Determinants of Educational Attainment, University Drop-out and Time-to-Degree. A focus on Italy

In this paper we present important empirical evidence regarding the main factors that influence educational achievement at large. We then show the main issues which characterize the Italian university system, namely high drop-out rates and elapsed time to degree. With regard to these problems we survey the main microeconomic contributions. The results of most analyses indicate that parental background, financial conditions, individual’s characteristics and unemployment rates are amongst the main determinants of university completion.educational attainment, drop-out, time-to-degree, undergraduate performance