Breaking the Language Barrier? Exam Fee Subsidies and Spanish Proficiency
Nicholas Wright & Akeem K. Carter
Abstract
In this article, we evaluate the impact of a targeted fee subsidy program that reduced the registration cost of the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) Spanish exam—a standardized regional assessment for high school leavers seeking to demonstrate language proficiency. The subsidy covered the oral exam fee, which is about 40% of the total subject cost, effectively reducing the financial barrier to choosing Spanish. As a result, the Spanish exam became cost-comparable to subjects with only written exams (e.g., Mathematics) and less expensive than those with both written and non-written assessments (e.g., French). By combining inverse probability weighting with the difference-in-differences design and using administrative student-level data, we examine the impact of the program on Spanish exam registration and student performance. We find that the program increased registration by 0.05 SD. However, this expanded access likely imposed unintended costs, as treated schools experienced higher absenteeism (0.10 SD) and an increase in the number of students failing (0.11 SD) the Spanish exam. These adverse effects were most pronounced among female students and those attending urban, low-, and high-performing high schools. We also document negative spillovers on subjects that are close substitutes, but find no effects on core subjects. JEL Classification Codes: I22; L31; N36; Z13
Evidence weight
Balanced mode · F 0.40 / M 0.15 / V 0.05 / R 0.40
| F · citation impact | 0.50 × 0.4 = 0.20 |
| M · momentum | 0.50 × 0.15 = 0.07 |
| V · venue signal | 0.50 × 0.05 = 0.03 |
| R · text relevance † | 0.50 × 0.4 = 0.20 |
† Text relevance is estimated at 0.50 on the detail page — for your query’s actual relevance score, open this paper from a search result.