Methodology for Analyzing Break-even Educational Services in the Marketing Activities of the University
Authors:   Odessa National Maritime University, Zhykharieva Vlada , Poznanska Inna ,   Odessa National Maritime University, Baryshnikova Vira ,   Odessa National Maritime University
Published: March 2021

Introduction. Global changes in the system of financing higher education in recent years became the reason to the new approaches formation of development pricing strategy in universities. One of the main conditions for the formation of such a strategy is to improve the efficiency of the pricing system for educational services. It requires the selection and justification of optimality criteria, provided production costs correspond to the level of prices in the educational services market, the usefulness of the proposed specialties and quality of service. The development of a methodology for assessing the financial and economic state of the university based on the analysis of the break-even point of the marketing activities of the university will allow: the cost of the contract for individual specialties or specializations, to plan income and expenses for future periods, to identify ways to save costs for individual items, the feasibility of introduction new specialties. The criterion of the break-even point of the educational services of the university depends on such indicators as the number of students, conditionally fixed and variable expenses, the university’s income from educational activities in which full coverage of expenses is possible. The use of the methodology for assessing the financial and economic state of the university based on the analysis of the break-even point of the marketing activities of the university allows not only to determine the minimum possible cost of a contract for a specific specialty, but also to identify shortcomings in the system of accounting and analysis of financial and economic indicators of the university. Purpose. The aim of the study is to create a methodology for calculating the determination of the break-even rate of the university educational services for a particular specialty or specialization, taking into account the costs related to the implementation of a separate curriculum. Results. Based on the analysis of the financial and economic indicators of the university’s activities, the classification of expenses for the provision of educational services has been improved by dividing costs into variable and conditionally fixed costs. The criteria for dividing individual cost items into variable and conditionally fixed ones have been determined, the structure of these costs has been analyzed using the example of the Odessa National Maritime University. The formula for calculating the break-even point for higher education institutions has been improved based on the proposed cost classification. The methods of calculating the components of these costs have been clarified, which include the unit costs of the salaries of the teaching staff, depending on the teaching load and the level of qualifications, salary charges for the scientific and pedagogical staff. The formula for calculating the break-even contingent of students of the contract form of study has been improved based on the above approach to calculating the break-even point. The formula for calculating the break-even contingent of students of the contract form of study has been improved based on the above approach to calculating the break-even point. Ways to reduce costs have been proposed, which are aimed at unifying the curriculum, reducing the cost of maintaining the administrative and managerial apparatus and reducing utility costs. Conclusions. The challenges of recent years in the field of higher education form a number of problematic issues, leading to the need to develop new methods for assessing the economic efficiency of universities in Ukraine. Using the break-even point in assessing the viability of specialties allows you to identify financial reserves, determine and justify the cost of training for a student of a contract form of study, justify the economic efficiency of educational and professional programs, detail costs and identify gaps in their allocation. The disadvantages of this method include the lack of indicators that would characterize the uniqueness and prospects of the studied specialty: employability of graduates, advanced training of the teaching staff and other indicators that would take into account not only the analysis of previous periods, but also modern trends in the educational services market.