Using Marginal Analysis to Calculate the Cost of Higher Education via Distance Learning

Formation of new relationship schemes in higher education is one of the causes of enhanced competition between higher education institutions, since now not only the government, but also employers-who have their own requirements to evaluate the competence of graduates-act as stakeholders in the implementation of educational services. Development of education in Russia means full integration of universities into the mechanism of market competition and co-funding of educational services by citizens and businesses alike. That said, market relations mediate not only the interaction between the customers and providers of educational services, but also between universities and their academic staff. Development of higher education as a whole depends on how economically correct the relations between all participants of the educational process are. This makes the pricing of educational services and transparency of this process an obvious and relevant problem. Aim. The study aims to present major approaches to the pricing of higher education using a marginalist approach and modern education pricing methods. Tasks. The authors analyze scientific and methodological approaches to the pricing of education in the implementation of programs involving distance learning. Methods. This study uses general scientific methods of cognition and private economic analysis methods to examine the process of pricing of higher education. Results. Application of adjusted marginal analysis to pricing in a university that implements distance learning programs makes it possible to determine a fair cost of education that would be acceptable for all participants of the educational process. Conclusion. Unreasonable pricing of educational services causes significant material damage to certain population groups and distorts public opinion about the importance and value of education. Considering the social importance of educational activities, application of the proposed approach makes it possible to accurately determine the target price of educational services.

virtual university, marginal analysis, fixed costs, variable costs, cost of education, виртуальный университет, маржинальный анализ, постоянные затраты, переменные затраты, стоимость обучения

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