Leveraging administrative data from the University of Iceland, which cover more than 60% of the undergraduate population in the country, we examine how home exams and peer networks shape grades around the COVID-19 crisis. Using difference-in-difference models with a rich set of fixed effects, we find that home exams taken during university closures raised grades by about 0.5 points relative to invigilated in-person exams outside the pandemic period. Using rich administrative data from the University of Iceland, covering most of the undergraduate population in the country, this paper shows that unproctored home exams during COVID-19 increased student grades by about half a point, a roughly 7% premium, on top of the usual positive return to take-home exams already present off-pandemic. Despite widespread disruption, student performance did not deteriorate during the pandemic.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0014292125002909
