OPTIMIZATION OF THE COST OF CONTRACT TRAINING AS A CONDITION FOR THE FINANCIAL SUSTAINABILITY OF HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS

Abstract

Cataclysms of a global scale have negatively affected the development of higher education in most countries. The financial crisis, the COVID-19 pandemic, full-scale wars in Syria, Ukraine, and Iran have accelerated large-scale changes in the higher education system, revealing its vulnerability and inefficiency of individual components. It is quite natural that during the war, the issue of financing education is particularly acute due to the deficit in budget expenditures. Given this fact, an important factor is the diversification of sources of financing for the activities of higher education institutions through the search for non-state sources of financing, which include contract education, attracting investors, participation in grant programs, and research projects. The financial sustainability of higher education institutions depends on the amount of income received from the education of non-budgetary students. In conditions of fierce competition in the educational services market, the cost of the student’s contract becomes an important lever for attracting applicants. At the same time, an excessively low level of the training contract can lead to a decrease in the quality of training and a lack of funds to pay the labor of scientific, pedagogical and other employees involved in the educational process. Therefore, a balanced and scientifically sound approach to drawing up the contract price is needed. To analyze the impact of the cost of training on the number of students enrolled in higher education institutions, a statistical study of the characteristics was conducted. Using correlation and factor analysis, it was proven that the number of students enrolled in the contract in 2025 in higher education institutions of the city of Odesa in the specialties “Management” and “Marketing” depends on the cost of the contract by 64.8%. Using regression analysis, it was proven that the function of the dependence of the number of students on the cost of training cannot be given by ordinary linear regression and requires the introduction of nonlinear terms. A conclusion was drawn on the need to improve the pricing system when calculating the cost of training; implementation of contracts for educational services between universities and enterprises, which provide for closer interaction between universities and personnel customers, implementation of dual training; development of a system of scientific developments and their adequate financing; creation of scientific hubs and innovation centers based on universities.