The influence of tuition increase on the desirability of the nursing program at medical university – Plovdiv

Objective: The aim of the study is to determine how an increase in tuition can change the positive outcome of the sacrifice-gain assessment among nursing students at Medical University – Plovdiv. The study is limited to the negative effect of a higher tuition on the decision of students to drop the program. Methods: The study design is cross-sectional. An anonymous survey was carried out among 160 nursing students in March of 2016. The questionnaire contained items about the social and economic status of the respondent, demographics characteristic and the amount of tuition. Results were analyzed using descriptive statistics and non-parametric analysis. Results: The majority of students consider the current tuition at Medical University- Plovdiv “too high”, and only 23.1% find it “acceptable”. An increase in excess of 30% of the tuition would lead to a drop of 68.8 % or more in the percentage of students willing to continue their education at Medical University-Plovdiv. The percentage of possible transfer students is high in the case not only of freshmen, but of 3rd year students as well. A worrisome fact is the high percentage of respondents (n=26; 16% of the respondents) who, had they been able to turn back time, would not apply to our Nursing program. Conclusion: The results of the survey serve as evidence for the existence of a breaking point, i.e. a level of tuition beyond which students are unwilling to continue their studies.