**9. Important part of expenses used for central exam preparation**

The most important part of the education expenditure of the household in Turkey includes the expenditures made for central exam preparations. The increasing selectivity of central examinations in Turkey has led to efforts to obtain this opportunity in large sections of society who plan their future based on having access to higher education. Thus, parents have been making every sacrifice for their children to make them benefit from higher education. This situation has led to the formation of the "test preparation" sector that has been constantly extending [37]. Individuals wishing to achieve in this competitive environment have turned to institutions and practices that may be alternatives to schools in order to increase their suc‐ cess in university exams [65]. The most important institutions that emerged as an alternative to schools were after‐school support centers that underwent structural change in 2015. In addition, practices under different names such as private courses, extra study sections, stu‐ dent coaching have become alternatives for families who were willing to spend their incomes for the sake of making their children successful in the university placement exam [42].

In 2005, the Turkish Education Association (TED) conducted a comprehensive survey to determine the size of the expenditure for after‐school support institutions. According to the survey, the expenditure made by the students who entered ÖSS in 2004 to enter the uni‐ versity was 8.4 billion dollars and 9.2 billion dollars in 2005. The average expenditure per person in the preparation process for the university on the side of the families was \$ 4708 in 2004 and \$ 5322 in 2005. In 2004, the share of budget per student in higher education was \$ 1990 [37]. The results of another study carried out by the Turkish Education Association in 2010 also show that the test preparation sector has brought about a serious financial bur‐ den on families. Expenditures made by the families for the preparatory work each year are about 16 billion TL (about 5 billion dollars). The distribution of the preparatory expenditures made by the families in one year area is as follows: After‐school support center: 5,707,811,064 TL (1.7 billion dollars), expenses for test preparation, book magazines and similar materials: 2,160,968,761 TL (635 million dollars), tuition and course payments for the preparation of the test: 1,267,398,136 TL (\$ 372 million), expenses for transportation, meals and other expenses 5,198,178,895 TL (1.5 billion dollars), tuition fee payments: 2,374,954,883 TL (\$ 698 million).

Bakıs et al. [66] state that after‐school support, expenditures do not create benefits for students. According to the authors, this process creates a system based on reinforcement and competi‐ tion rather than qualification and creating benefits based on it. The lack of a "diploma" which is the basic feature of the educational benefit is also another reason for the ineffectiveness after‐school support process. The authors state that one of the world's most irrational edu‐ cational systems emerges in terms of economic acceptance, given the size of the expenditure that individuals make to participate in a race that only 15–20% will succeed.
