CFOS/Efficiency and Effectiveness of ODL/Exercise 9.4

<Return to Unit 9

Exercise 9.4: Cost-Effectiveness Ratio
This activity is based on the same case study as used in Exercise 9.2, which focused on the Certificate in Cost Accounting programme offered by a community college in Canada. Students registering for this programme can choose to study through either conventional, face-to-face classes or paper-based distance education materials. The data for 2004 on total student enrolments, total graduates and total costs for both modes of this programme are reproduced below for ease of reference:

Equation for Average Cost per Graduate:
 * Now calculate the Success Rate and the Average Cost per Graduate for the different modes and write them down on a piece of scratch paper.


 * ACg = TC ÷ TNg

Where:


 * ACg = average cost per graduate
 * TC = total costs for programme or institution as a whole
 * TNg = total number of graduates


 * Once you have finished the above, calculate the Cost-Effectiveness Ratio for the two modes of the Certificate in Cost Accounting Programme.

Equation for Cost-Effectiveness Ratio


 * CER =  ACGODL ÷ ACGC

Where:


 * CER = cost-effectiveness ratio
 * ACGODL = average cost per graduate of ODL programme/institution
 * ACGC = average cost per graduate of conventional programme/institution


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

Check your Answers>