Do not include red text.

Title: Senior High School Learners’ Perceived Impact Of Student Costs

As A Barrier To Academic Progression

Chapter 2

Review of Related Literature

Conceptual Literature

Student Cost

National Center for Education Statistics (n.d.) defined student cost as costs associated

with attending school. In higher education, student costs refer to the revenue and expenditure

that are related to institutional enrollments, tuition, and fee charges, as well as the overall value

of a higher education degree. According to Alip (2022), the Department of Education has

exceeded its target of 28.6 million registered students this school year, but many

underprivileged Filipinos still lack access to education. Financial concerns or the high cost of

education, were frequently cited as reasons for not attending school. This is further supported

by the study of Kakuchi (2021), in which students cited their primary reason for dropping out of

school as their inability to pay student costs such as tuition and course materials.

Students' enrollment and academic progression are regarded to be significantly tied to

the affordability of student costs (Spica & Biddix, 2021). One reason that is making it harder for

students to progress in their academic careers is that over the preceding three decades, the

cost of textbooks and course materials has nearly tripled in price, nearly tripling the rate of

inflation (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2016).

School Fees as an Academic Barrier

School fees, as defined by Fricke (2013), are fees charged by education institutions for

instruction or other services. This depends on the cost of education, which consists of the

salaries of the teachers, staff, and other important personnel at a university. Every year, there is
an increase in the number of students enrolled; thus, the demand for professors also rises. This

affects the financial management of students. Furthermore, according to Sodexo, a significant

increase in university fees has increased student expectations of university service and

credentials (IPL, n.d.).

Tuition fees and other fees have also been identified as a significant barrier to

educational enrollment, discouraging poorer parents from enrolling their children. Nair (2015)

raises the issue of the fee hike in private schools, which is still being protested by parents and

shows no indication of ending. Additionally, these fees hinder the full participation of low-income

children in the educational system. One of the most concrete effects of fees reported in the case

study of Rolfe (n.d.) was the growth of part-time working students, which was found to have a

negative effect on student performance since it reduces attendance and affects the students’

concentration.

Moreover, fees were seen to accelerate existing trends, such as dropout rates. Still,

many lecturers felt that the link between tuition fees and students’ attitudes was not direct but

school fees were found to have an influence in areas such as student participation, attitudes,

and performance, though it was almost universally negative (Bhalotra, 2014).

Course Materials as an Academic Barrier

In the study of Sarah et al. (2017), at the University of Otago in New Zealand, they

mentioned that course materials remain an important component of many courses and

academic programs, with anecdotal evidence indicating a preference for traditional, purchased

textbooks over, or in addition to, other resources such as digital resources and e-books. In the

selection of appropriate textbooks, teachers are often faced with two challenges: accessing

quality material and adapting the materials to fit their needs. Textbooks are often the primary

method of distributing course content and learning material to students. The most obvious

impact this has on students is the cost of purchasing the chosen textbook, but there is also
access: libraries can provide copies via high-demand services when necessary, and copyright

licensing also allows excerpts to be made available via password-protected systems, but each

of these options is limited and may not meet demand.

Students have reported that they make decisions on which courses to take based on

the specific cost of textbooks. In response to this, the faculty have expressed a willingness to

use open textbooks to help students but are unsure where to look for viable options. In a study

by Michael et al. (2017), the results indicated that 66% of students have not purchased a

textbook due to cost. It was also found that 91% of the faculty at this institution would be willing

to use open educational resources (OER) alternatives.

Academic Progression

According to HETI Higher Education, academic progression is the progress of a student

toward graduation, which is based on their academic performance. Grades are reviewed by the

end of each semester, revealing whether students are making satisfactory academic progress.

This also determines whether a student can continue studying a course. Meanwhile, Maine’s

Model of School Supports defines this as the comparison of a student’s performance from one

year to the next, which is averaged at the school level. This is used as an indicator to measure

student growth.

The difference between academic achievement and academic progression, as defined

by Maine (2018), is that academic achievement simply assesses the performance of students

according to some standard; however, this does not take into account the individual growth of

the student. On the other hand, the University of Sydney’s (2022) definition of academic

progression describes a student’s progress in completing degree requirements, which includes

monitoring a student’s ability to meet academic requirements in their course as well as the units

they take each semester.

Impact on Academic Performance

For Tadese et al. (2022), education is essential for providing skilled labor that drives

economic growth and addresses a community's pressing issues. Additionally, students must

dedicate a significant amount of their time to their studies in order to graduate with high

academic standing. One of the most important variables in this context for future success is

academic performance. Academic performance is characterized as the evaluation of students'

performance in a range of academic courses. Teachers and education officials often gauge

students' progress based on how well they do in class, how well they perform on tests, and how

well they complete projects (BALLOTPEDIA, n.d.). Student report cards and those with strong

academic results will be recognized at the end of each semester. Each student's satisfactory

performance is shown on their report cards and on other academic rewards.

The average grades from the previous semesters and the overall average grades are

used to gauge academic performance. Academic researchers from a variety of fields have

focused on the aspects that influence student success, such as their projects and exam results.

The value of student performance is clear to both students and institutions since it serves as a

gauge for the efficacy of their educational programs. Students' self-motivation, punctuality,

frequent attendance in class, hard work, interest, and efforts in their projects are among the

elements that have been found to promote academic achievement (IPL, n.d.).

Impact on Progress to Graduation

In the context of this study, Wisconsin (n.d.) defined progress to graduation as the

student’s ability to meet all course requirements. Unlike academic performance, which is a

continuous assessment of the grade point average. Other factors are considered in the progress
toward graduation. The course requirements as set by the state and local units of school

administration are commonly based on five elements: (1) length of attendance; (2) content of

work; (3) amount of work; (4) quality of work; and (5) to some extent, character, or conduct

(Brillantes et al., 2019).

The criteria for determining academic progress vary across departments and/or

programs, but in general, a student is expected to make sufficient progress toward the

established program milestones—those measurable and observable stages or events in the

graduate program that serve as benchmarks of performance. The ability of a student to

demonstrate good academic standing and overall performance in program requirements within

an accepted graduate program time frame is an example of "satisfactory" student progress.

Insufficient progress toward program milestones could result in a long graduate career, which

might even force a student to drop out of the program. Therefore, creating a system to track

advancement is crucial. (NEBRASKA, n.d.).

As each student moves through the last two semesters of senior high school, ending

with a diploma earned, students flow through varying strata of progress toward graduation.

When it comes to the student experience of senior high school, Grade 11 and Grade 12

learners compared senior high school to college in terms of the number of requirements and the

difficulty of subject content, which they raised as an issue toward the successful completion of

their course (Orbeta et al., 2019). Another factor listed as preventing progress to graduation and

completion is affordability (Spica & Biddix, 2021).

Related Studies

Foreign Studies

The findings in the study of Spica and Biddix (2021) entitled, “Prices they pay: Academic

achievement and progress to graduation barriers experienced by community college students

due to the cost of course materials” identified the extent to which course material costs create

barriers for students and the inequities these costs foster for students in underrepresented
populations. This cross-sectional survey research study revealed that: (a) 68.6% of students

delayed purchasing a textbook due to cost; (b) 41.3% of students did not purchase the required

materials; (c) 15.8% reported earning poor grades; and (d) 3.3% reported having failed a course

because they could not afford the materials. This indicated that course material costs can have

a negative influence on course-level academic achievement. Results also indicated that course

material costs may present barriers to a student’s ability to progress to graduation; 9.6% have

dropped or withdrawn from a course altogether due to the cost of materials. Statistically

significant differences in academic achievement barriers were found for low-income students

and students under the age of 25.

A similar study conducted in Virginia examined the relationship between net costs and

student success. This study, entitled “The Effects of Rising Student Costs in Higher Education

Evidence from Public Institutions in Virginia” by Mulhern et al. (2015) discovered that a federal

policy change that increased the income threshold for students to qualify for zero expected

family contribution results in a 5.9 percentage point increase in the probability that a low-income

student will persist after his or her first year. They found a statistically significant inverse

relationship between net costs and student outcomes. This finding strongly suggests that the

disproportionately large increases in net costs for low-income students will worsen existing

inequalities that already exist among different groups of students and eventually affect overall

enrollment and success rates. Moreover, traditionally underserved students, as well as families

from deeper into the middle class, find it difficult to afford a college education.

Another study by Leah (2020), entitled “Understanding How Poverty is the Main Barrier

to Education” found that poor families frequently have to choose between meeting their child's

basic necessities and sending them to school. Even though families are exempt from paying

tuition, there are still extra expenses related to education, such as those for uniforms, books,

supplies, and/or test fees. Poverty and education are directly linked as to why more and more

children are not able to attend school. Africa's sub-Saharan nations, where the majority of the
world's poorest children reside, have worked cooperatively to abolish school fees. Despite an

increase in the region's lower secondary completion rate from 23% to 42%, enrollment is still

low when compared to the global rate of 75%. Even now, school is still out of reach for the

poorest households.

Local Studies

In Alip’s (2022) study, published in the Manila Bulletin, he examined the relationship

between poverty and education, and concluded that the two are inextricably linked. His study,

"Breaking Barriers: Education and Poverty,” identified financial insecurity as a hindrance to

education. The most recent public service announcement (PSA) figure for out-of-school youth

(OSY) is 3.53 million in 2017. According to the report, over half of OSYs are from households

with earnings in the bottom 30% of the population. Among the most common reasons

mentioned for not attending school were financial worries or the high cost of education.

Students are unable to progress in school because they cannot afford course materials, tuition,

uniforms, and transportation costs, as well as wasted hours of child labor to support their

families.

The findings in the study of Agullana et al. (2017), entitled “Socio-Economic Factors and

the Academic Performance of Senior High School Students in Candon National High School”

supports the idea of Chandra (2013), who claimed that socioeconomic status is the most

important variable in determining students’ academic achievement. Suleman (2012) stated that

in addition to one’s total family income, other variables are also considered in one’s

socioeconomic status, i.e., parental educational attainment; poverty; single-parent households;

environment; etc. Focusing on one of the socioeconomic factors that was stated, they found out

that the factor, family income, with a 0.2 degree of importance, can also be a moderate predictor

of academic performance. This result comes with the ideology that higher-income families have

better academic performance because their parents can meet their children's educational
needs. Meanwhile, students from low-income families may earn a lower academic performance

because their parents only have a limited source of income that will provide their academic

needs.

A study conducted at the University of Mindanao by Ayo et al. (2017) examined the

relationship between the tuition fee and the academic performance of first-year students. The

results revealed that changes in tuition fees had no discernible effect on students’ choice of

major and few discernible effects on students’ choice of school. However, according to the data

gathered by the Tuition Monitor Network of the National Union of Students of the Philippines

(NUSP), students are alarmed by the yearly increases, which they characterize as "inhumane,

incessant, and anti-student." Statistics also show that tuition fees have increased up to 13% and

other school fees have increased up to 20%. This was seen to have an impact on student effort,

specifically by affecting incentives and creating financial constraints, which can limit the

possibility of continuing to study and/or completing a study program.

Synthesis of the Literature

The literature and related studies presented in this chapter provide an overview of the

important variables to be considered in this study and the relevant findings on this topic. It can

be seen that the local and international studies present different results regarding the

relationship between the major variables. For example, in Fricke’s study, the findings suggested

that fees didn’t have a negative effect on student achievement. This is further supported by Ayo

et al., who concluded that student costs had little effect on students’ perception and effort.

Several studies, however, oppose these statements, such as Rolfe’s case study, which

reported that fees accelerated dropout rates and had a negative influence on student

participation and attitudes. Moreover, the study of Spica and Biddix stated that enrollment and

academic progression are significantly tied to student costs, to which Agullana et al. added that
socioeconomic status is a moderate predictor of academic performance. This validates the

studies of Mulhern et al., Leah, and Alip, which found that families from the lower class have

trouble affording tuition. These studies indicate that a significant relationship between student

costs and academic progression exists, which affects students negatively.

In the related literature, the researchers often related student costs to poverty,

socioeconomic status, and family income. In that aspect, the studies had a similar framework

but different approaches and results. With the increasing dropout and inflation rates in today’s

society, as well as the return of face-to-face classes, student costs are now considered a very

important issue. However, locally published studies regarding this are limited. Thus, this study

aims to fill this gap by determining the impact of student costs on academic progression.