IFC Case Study:
Laureate in Mexico
Creating Opportunities to Improve Skills and
Incomes through Access to Higher Education

IFC’S STRATEGY
IFC’s education strategy seeks to expand equitable access to quality education at            Recommendations
affordable costs that leads to employment opportunities. It also calls for IFC to bring
value to clients through its sector expertise, and to help clients design methods for
assessing the effects of higher education on employment opportunities for students.



LAUREATE, AN IFC EDUCATION CLIENT
Laureate International Universities (Laureate) offers higher education degrees in
Mexico, in an environment where there is a significant, unmet demand for college
degrees and yet, private universities face a highly competitive market to expand their
services. This study relies on data collected directly from the field, including a college
graduate’s survey, an employer’s survey, and in-depth interviews to Laureate former
students.



OVERALL RESULTS
Through the evaluation, it was possible to identify significant positive impacts of a
Laureate education. The evaluation revealed clear signs that Laureate has a higher
impact on women´s careers. While the effects on men are significant and robust,
effects are many times larger for women. Both UVM and UNITEC seem to be
contributing to closing the gender gap in career advancement. Additionally, Laureate
graduates show greater social mobility than their peers, relative to their family
background. For UNITEC, this is particularly significant because their target students
come from lower socioeconomic classes.

The job market perceives that Laureate alumni have competitive skills, when
compared to undergraduates from other universities, including those in the premium
segment. This makes it feasible for recent Laureate graduates to attain a higher-than-
average level of compensation and expect promotions in the same time-lapse as their
counterparts. Moreover, the flexibility offered by Laureate institutions may be
increasing a student’s possibilities.

In general, when compared to the control group, the most robust results show that
Laureate has a positive effect in several areas.
EMPLOYABILITY                                                                             The Method
Laureate graduates spent less time when searching for their first job after
graduation than their counterparts in other private and public universities.
Particularly, UNITEC’s graduates show a higher employment rate than graduates
from other private universities.

INCOME AND JOB QUALITY
More graduates from Laureate universities have income higher than their
counterparts.

CAREER ADVANCEMENT
                                                                                              
More Laureate graduates were recently promoted and were likely to hold
management positions than professionals in the control group. UVM’s graduates
show a particularly high likelihood of being recently promoted.

GENDER GAPS
                                                                                              
Female graduates from Laureate, both in UVM and UNITEC, were more likely to
hold management positions than females in the control group.

SOCIAL MOBILITY
More Laureate graduates have moved upward from their previous socioeconomic
status than their counterparts. Furthermore, a higher number of Laureate
graduates registered positive changes in their occupational prestige, compared to
their parents.

UNITEC graduates’ avenues to social mobility are driven mainly by higher income.
UVM graduates’ avenues to social mobility are driven mainly by gains in
occupational prestige

The results are consistent across both control groups, both in the group formed by
public and private universities and the group consisting only of private
universities. However, effects are stronger when comparing the treatment group
to the private universities only.

Negative impacts were also found. Laureate alumni spent more time unemployed
after moving on from their first jobs after graduation, and they said their
bachelor’s studies were less useful for their professional life than their
counterparts.

In general, the main findings are consistent and reinforce each other. A
correlation analysis shows that those graduates who spent less time looking for
their first job after college are more likely to have been promoted recently, and to
be holding a management position. They also tend to be more satisfied with their
jobs, have a higher income and spent shorter periods of time unemployed.
                                                                                       Contact
                                                                                       Hayat Abdulahi-Abdo
                                                                                       Economist
                                                                                       (202) 458-0915
                                                                                       Habdo@ifc.org