# CFOS Unit 9/Efficiency and Cost Effectiveness Ratio

## EXERCISE 9.2 and 9.4: Efficiency and Cost-Effectiveness Ratios

A community college in Canada offers its programmes through both conventional, face-to-face classes and paper-based distance education materials. Information for 2004 on total student enrolments, total graduates and total costs for both modes in relation to the Certificate in Cost Accounting programme are given in the table below:

 Programme Delivery Mode Total Student Enrolments Total Graduates Success Rate (percent) Total Costs (Cdn.$) Average Costs per Student (Cdn.$) Average Cost per Graduate (Cdn.\$) Cert in Cost Accounting ODL 131 43 34,977 Cert in Cost Accounting Conventional 954 886 712,433 Programme as a Whole Combined 1,085 929 747,410

Activity
 Exercise 9.2: Efficiency Calculate the Average Cost per Student for the ODL and conventional modes of delivering this course, as well as for the programme as a whole. Insert your answers in the blank cells of the table below. Now calculate the Efficiency Ratio for the ODL versus conventional modes of this programme, using the average costs per student.

EQUATION

ER = ACa ÷ ACb

Where:

ER = efficiency ratio
ACa = average cost per FTE student for programme/institution A
ACb = average cost per FTE student for programme/institution B

Activity
 Exercise 9.4: Cost-Effectiveness Now calculate the Success Rate and the Average Cost per Graduate for the different modes and insert your answers in the blank cells of the table above. Once you have finished the above, calculate the Cost-Effectiveness Ratios for the two modes of the Certificate in Cost Accounting Programme. The equation is the same as for the Efficiency Ratio above, but utilises Average Cost per Graduate.

EQUATION for Cost-Effectiveness Ratio

CER = ACGa ÷ ACGb

Where:

CER = cost-effectiveness ratio
ACGa = average cost per graduate for programme/institution A
ACG b = average cost per graduate for programme/institution B

In this case study, what factors have influenced the relatively poor cost-effectiveness of the ODL mode of delivery?