The Role of Spatial and Other Factors in Higher Education Enrolment Choices in Colombia

This thesis uses sophisticated analysis of large datasets to identify the critical factors influencing higher education enrolment choices in Colombia. We model decisions from several perspectives to provide a holistic approach to the topic. Results highlight several important obstacles to accessing higher education, and we focus especially on geographical location - rural and remote are vastly underrepresented, and remote learning options only partly alleviate these. The analysis provides useful insights to policy-makers, such as programs offering additional support to rural and remote students. Careful planning of locations of future higher education providers and the mix of providers is also important.