%0 Report
        %A Malacrino, Davide
%A Nocito, Samuel
%A Saggio, Raffaele
        %T Do Reforms Aimed at Reducing Time to Graduation Work? Evidence from the Italian Higher Education System
        %D 2026
        %8 2026 Apr
        %I Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)
        %C Bonn
        %7 IZA Discussion Paper
        %N 18530
        %U https://www.iza.org/publications/dp18530
        %X This paper examines the impact of a reform aimed at expediting graduation times in Italian universities by reducing the number of exams students must pass in order to graduate. Using event-study estimates that leverage the reform's staggered implementation, we find that this policy led to an increase in on-time graduation rates but also resulted in a decreased probability of employment one-year post-graduation. However, this negative effect reverses into a positive one in the medium run. We show that these patterns are explained by students using the time gained from earlier graduation to pursue additional educational qualifications.
        %K higher education
%K policy evaluation
%K time to graduation
%K labor outcomes