The cost structure of higher education in further education colleges in England

This paper examines the cost of the increased provision of higher education courses within further education colleges in England. We believe this to be the first attempt to fit a cost function specifically to the further education sector. Cost functions for a sample of 96 colleges over a 2-year period, from 2000 to 2002, are fitted using a panel data methodology as well as stochastic frontier analysis. We compare and contrast our findings with a sample of 959 US colleges. Our findings indicate that most further education colleges are able to benefit from economies of scale. Results from both methodologies suggest the presence of product-specific economies of scale, substantial ray economies of scale and indicate that higher education classroom-based courses, such as business studies, as well as vocational courses display substantial economies of scope.     

Are Public Master’s Institutions Cost Efficient? A Stochastic Frontier and Spatial Analysis

The current study examines costs, measured by educational and general (E&G) spending, and cost efficiency at 252 public master’s institutions in the United States over a nine-year (2004–2012) period. We use a multi-product quadratic cost function and results from a random-effects model with a first-order autoregressive (AR1) disturbance term to calculate economies of scale with regard to undergraduate enrollment, graduate enrollment, and research. We also employ a slightly modified version of Kumbhakar et al. (J Prod Anal 41(2):321–337, 2014) multi-step approach, involving the use of stochastic frontier analysis (SFA) and taking into account spatial interdependency, to decompose cost efficiency into long-term stable (persistent) and short-term (residual) efficiency. The key results of this study include evidence that: (1) regional clustering of costs exists; (2) there are economies of scale in undergraduate education and diseconomies of scale in graduate education; (3) relatively few institutions are cost inefficient; and (4) cost inefficiency tends to be long-term and persistent rather than short-term and residual. This research also identifies public master’s institutions that are the most cost efficient. Our inquiry has implications for future research as it points towards specific institutions, which may be engaged in effective practices to keep costs low, for possible follow-up case studies. Going forward, the techniques used in this study could be applied to examine economies of scale and scope as well as cost efficiency among other types of higher education institutions, such as public or private research universities, baccalaureate institutions, and community colleges.     

高校多校区办学的规模与效益

在多校区办学的过程中,高校的人、财、物、办学空间等都有了显著的增加,这为高校扩大办学效益提供了必要的物质条件。由于规模与效益的非线性关系,如何控制办学规模已成为多校区办学高校亟待解决的现实课题。对于多校区办学的大学,同样也存在规模效益,当在校生人数在20000人左右时,其规模效益随着规模的扩大而增加,呈现规模经济,且其规模效益的增加主要靠人力资源的提升。但多校区办学所带来的成本增加较快,特别是不可控的可变成本或边际成本大幅增加,过大的规模将会引起规模不经济,应合理控制办学规模。     

远程教育的成本构成及变化趋势——来自北京大学医学网络教育学院的实证分析

本文基于教育经济学的成本理论,结合远程教育形式的特点,创建了医学远程教育成本的分析模型.根据该模型,实证分析了北京大学医学网络教育学院近年来的教育成本构成及变化趋势.研究结果表明,医学远程教育有着显著的规模经济效应和正外部性效应,随着招生规模的扩大,其成本效益优势日益明显.     

Multi-product total cost functions for higher education: The case of Chinese research universities

This paper empirically investigates the economies of scale and economies of scope for the Chinese research universities by employing the flexible fixed cost quadratic (FFCQ) function. The empirical results show that both economies of scale and economies of scope exist in the Chinese higher education system and support the commonly belief that universities as multi-product organizations.     

国际学生流动的成本和收益分析框架探析

本文试图从高等教育国际化过程中的不同利益相关者的视角切入,通过对国际学生流动的经济成本—收益概念的分析入手,从影响国际教育决策的教育机构和国家层面分析国际学生流动的成本—收益,同时也从会计学和经济学上分析国际学生的成本和收益,为建立国际学生流动成本和收益分析框架提供理论基础,进而论文分别从机构和国家层面探索了国际学生成本和收益分析的框架,试图为教育机构、政府部门开展国际教育实践提供参考。     

中国高校内部效率研究——基于范围经济的研究

Among the studies of the internal efficiency in higher education, most have focused on the scale of university (the economies of scale), but little on internal operating efficiency in higher education, especially on the combined efficiency of outputs (the economies of scope). There are few theoretical discussions or experimental research on whether teaching resources are complementary with research resources, or whether resources in undergraduate cultivation are shared with those in postgraduate training. In the background of the resource scarcity, it is significant to study the economies of scope in higher education to realize intensive development of higher education. Based on the multiproduct cost function and the data of universities attached to the Ministry of Education, this paper attempts to deal with the complementarities of resources used in undergraduate cultivation, postgraduate training and research to find that universities produce these outputs without sufficient resource sharing, the diseconomies of scope in postgraduate training is highest. As far as the quality of teaching and research are concerned, diseconomies of scope of the outputs are great. The main reasons are as follows: poor distribution of facilities, teachers and books, overlapping internal management systems, and the current postgraduate cultivation model. Therefore, relative departments should take internal resource sharing in higher education into account when making the administration policy of higher education. __________ Translated from Beijing Shifan Daxue Xuebao (Shehui Kexue Ban) 北京师范大学学报 (社会科学 版) (Journal of Beijing Normal University (Social Sciences)), 2007, (2): 81–91     

Estimating scale economies and the optimal size of school districts: A flexible form approach

This paper investigates estimation methods to model the relationship between school district size, costs per student and the organisation of school districts. We show that the assumptions on the functional form strongly affect the estimated scale economies and offer two possible solutions to allow for more flexibility in the estimation method. First, we introduce a model by adding higher‐degree district size polynomials, allowing for multiple optima. Second, we develop a Fourier cost function, innovative in the literature on scale economies in education. We then compare both models to classical approaches in the literature. We illustrate how a minor change in the estimation method can alter policy conclusions significantly using Flemish school district data. In doing so, we find sizeable potential cost savings from the consolidation of school districts, especially at the lower tail of the district–size distribution. The organisational transition from small to large school districts is characterised by an interval between two optima. Beyond an apparent slowdown in cost savings in medium‐sized school districts, cost savings from school district consolidation increase again, up to the optimal size of around 6,500 students. Beyond this optimum, school districts incur diseconomies of scale. The commonly used quadratic form (‘U’‐shaped cost function) overestimates scale economies, and fails to identify the interval between both optima.     

国外高等教育规模经济的研究方法述评

高等教育规模经济是教育经济学研究中的一个重要概念,同时也是政府制定政策的一个有用工具。但我国对高等教育规模经济的研究非常薄弱,尤其体现在研究方法上。本文系统概括了西方研究高等教育规模经济的方法,重点阐述和评价了其中四个关键内容：投入产出界定、成本函数形式选择、估计方法、规模经济计算。     

促进机会均等与全纳教育:农村教学点的未来走向及发展策略

目前中国农村基础教育正逐步走上规模化、效率化的道路,教学点的存在与发展受到了经济理性主义的质疑,在教育决策中经常成为被撤并的首选对象。事实上,农村教学点的作用不容忽视:教学点将逐渐发展成为新兴的"卫星学校",促进教育机会均等;复式教学将发挥出更大的作用,促进教育质量的均衡发展;秉承"全纳教育"的理念,切实履行教育为所有人服务的本质。     

Explaining Estimated Economies of Scale and Scope in Higher Education: A Meta-Regression Analysis

Numerous studies have investigated economies of scale and scope in higher education as a means of providing public and private providers of college and university teaching, research and other services and their stakeholders with knowledge of the cost structures that underpin provision in this economically and socially important sector. However, debate continues on the precise nature of the economies of scale and scope in higher education given the mixed findings, largely because of significant institutional and other differences across studies. To address this, we employ meta-regression analysis to explore not only the overall level of scale and scope economies across more than 40 international studies conducted in Australia, the US, the UK, Italy, China, and elsewhere since the early 1980s, but also those factors that potentially affect their presence in the higher education sector. Our findings suggest that functional form and allowances for managerial efficiency have a significant impact on the estimated scale economies. In contrast, for scope economies, the key discriminating factors appear to be when the analysis was conducted, the diversity of the sample, and the national level of economic development.     

The economics and management of small post‐secondary distance education systems

After reviewing previous work on the economics of distance education, which has been based on the large scale operation of the U.K. Open University, the economics of smaller systems are analyzed. It is shown that models used in conventional education are unhelpful and a new cost model based on the functions of course development and services delivery is described. This model is then employed, using data from Athabasca University, to explore the importance of factors such as course life and institutional costs. It is then used to examine the economic impact of policy alternatives such as changes in ratio of student numbers to credits offered and in the mix of programming of the institution.

The second part of the paper argues the thesis that small distance education systems require tighter management than conventional institutions. It examines the four main activities of management: planning, organizing, leading and evaluating in order to highlight areas of administration requiring special attention.     

The internal efficiency in higher education: An analysis based on economies of scope

Among the studies of the internal efficiency in higher education, most have focused on the scale of university (the economies of scale), but little on internal operating efficiency in higher education, especially on the combined efficiency of outputs (the economies of scope). There are few theoretical discussions or experimental research on whether teaching resources are complementary with research resources, or whether resources in undergraduate cultivation are shared with those in postgraduate training. In the background of the resource scarcity, it is significant to study the economies of scope in higher education to realize intensive development of higher education. Based on the multiproduct cost function and the data of universities attached to the Ministry of Education, this paper attempts to deal with the complementarities of resources used in undergraduate cultivation, postgraduate training and research to find that universities produce these outputs without sufficient resource sharing, the diseconomies of scope in postgraduate training is highest. As far as the quality of teaching and research are concerned, diseconomies of scope of the outputs are great. The main reasons are as follows: poor distribution of facilities, teachers and books, overlapping internal management systems, and the current postgraduate cultivation model. Therefore, relative departments should take internal resource sharing in higher education into account when making the administration policy of higher education.     

Economies of scale and scope in Australian higher education

This paper estimates economies of scale and scope for 36 Australian universities using a multiple-input, multiple-output cost function over the period 1998–2006. The three inputs included in the analysis are full-time equivalent academic and non-academic staff and physical capital. The five outputs are undergraduate, postgraduate and PhD completions, national competitive and industry grants, and publications. The findings indicate that ray economies of scale hold up to about 120% of current mean output though product-specific economies of scale hold only for undergraduate teaching. Global economies of scope prevail in the sector, increasing with the level of mean output, while product-specific economies of scope arise for all outputs except publications. A cost efficiency index constructed using the sector benchmark indicates that the universities of Ballarat, Southern Cross and Flinders have a high level of cost efficiency, while New South Wales, Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology and James Cook are cost inefficient.     

低代价高等教育增长及其质量观初论

规模与效益往往并非呈正比的,在高等教育的实践中亦是如此。如何构建一种新型的高等教育增长观使其能够成功把脉规模、质量、结构与效益,争取以较低代价谋得高等教育质量及效益的有效增长,当是高等教育大众化进程中十分迫切的研究课题。     

远程教育经济学概述及其国外主要研究成果——远程教育经济学研究的研究(一)

作者前言:在我国组织实施跨世纪现代远程教育工程时,对远程教育经济学研究的兴趣与日俱增.实践表明,以计算机网络和双向视频会议等电子信息通信技术为基础的第三代远程教育的经济学特征与以印刷教材加函授和广播电视录音录像等大众媒体为技术基础的前两代远程教育不同.教育经济学在远程教育诸分支学科中是研究得比较充分的,并且已经产生了大量研究成果.研究成果表明,制约远程教育生存和发展的是“规模-质量-效益“之间的基本三角关系.远程教育经济学主要探讨的就是如何解决好远程教育的质量、规 模和效益(效率)的关系问题.即,必须在保证教育质量的前提下研究规模和效益(效率):规模主要指远程教育系统的投入(投资)和产出(合格毕业生)的总量和水平;而效益(效率)主要指从投入到产出的转化率(成本效率),及其对国家和地区的社会经济发展、对远程教育系统(院校)和对远程学习者个人的经济收益的关系(成本效益).远程教育经济学的研究成果表明,远程教育可以在保证质量的同时实现规模经济,达到较高的成本效率和成本效益.本系列论文将论述远程教育经济学的基本概念、基础理论和国内外远程教育经济学研究的主要成果.……     

CANADA: PLANS TO CREATE OPEN LEARNING INSTITUTION IN BRITISH COLUMBIA

Experiments for open learning higher education institution are being made in many countries. This form of study is seen as one of the ways of democratizing higher education as well as tailoring the aims of higher education to national and regional needs.

We give below information on an open learning institution of higher education in British Columbia, which will start functioning in the autumn of 1978.     

高师教育的资源困境及其缓解对策

目前,我国高师教育发展面临的困境主要是教育资源紧缺,突出表现在经费投入不足和高师院校管理水平欠缺。解决这一问题需要高师院校充分发挥主观能动性,在提高资源意识、扩大融资渠道、注重规模效益、发挥资源潜力、减少资源浪费等方面进行优化发展,做到开源节流,以切实缓解高师教育资源不足的困境。     

Book review

An equitable and democratised higher education system should, in principle, be permeable to the flow of populations with different social and/or cultural backgrounds, allowing access to any parts of the system. However, despite the democratisation efforts that took place in Portugal after the 1974 revolution, and although the student population is now much more diversified and heterogeneous than ever before, the particular routes to higher education still hinder the free access of students to some areas of the system.

Purpose

In this study, those different routes to higher education and the way they might influence students’ choices are analysed. Of particular interest was whether students tended to make choices based on feasibility rather than personal preference.

Sample

Data were collected through individual semi-structured interviews with 60 first year students (32 female and 28 male), from universities and polytechnics, both public and private, and from three first cycle study programmes (Arts, Pharmacy and Computer Engineering) in the urban area of the city of Porto.

Design and Methods

The analysis was a small scale qualitative investigation of Portuguese students’ perceptions underlying their choices in higher education. The sample selection took into account the diversity of the student population and sought to include different student profiles to gather contrasting cases and potentially contrasting views. Data gathered through interviews (conducted in 2009/2010) were systematised by means of a content analysis technique and submitted to a codification process according to a grid of categories that emerged from the analysis of data.

Results

Findings from this small scale exploration suggest that the majority of the students interviewed chose a study programme based on preference but based their choice of institution on feasibility.

Conclusions

The study provides insights into factors that limit student access to all parts of the higher education system, namely to some selective and more prestigious institutions.     

E-learning in engineering education: a theoretical and empirical study of the Algerian higher education institution

Technology-mediated education or e-learning is growing globally both in scale and delivery capacity due to the large diffusion of the ubiquitous information and communication technologies (ICT) in general and the web technologies in particular. This statement has not yet been fully supported by research, especially in developing countries such as Algeria. The purpose of this paper was to identify directions for addressing the needs of academics in higher education institutions in Algeria in order to adopt the e-learning approach as a strategy to improve quality of education. The paper will report results of an empirical study that measures the readiness of the Algerian higher education institutions towards the implementation of ICT in the educational process and the attitudes of faculty members towards the application of the e-learning approach in engineering education. Three main objectives were targeted, namely: (a) to provide an initial evaluation of faculty members’ attitudes and perceptions towards web-based education; (b) reporting on their perceived requirements for implementing e-learning in university courses; (c) providing an initial input for a collaborative process of developing an institutional strategy for e-learning.

Statistical analysis of the survey results indicates that the Algerian higher education institution, which adopted the Licence – Master and Doctorate educational system, is facing a big challenge to take advantage of emerging technological innovations and the advent of e-learning to further develop its teaching programmes and to enhance the quality of education in engineering fields. The successful implementation of this modern approach is shown to depend largely on a set of critical success factors that would include:

1. The extent to which the institution will adopt a formal and official e-learning strategy.

2. The extent to which faculty members will adhere and adopt this strategy and develop ownership of the various measures in the context of their teaching and research responsibilities.

3. The extent to which the university will offer adequate support in terms of training, software platform administration, online resource development and impact monitoring and assessment.