The measurement of efficiency in higher education has gained a growing interest in recent years, especially due to the expansion of the university system. This paper provides a review of the literature on efficiency in higher education institutions by covering empirical articles which applied frontier efficiency measurement techniques from 1997 to…

The purpose of this paper is to explore the nature of the scholarly literature between 2016 and 2023 on the impact of classroom technology on higher education instructors' assessment practices through the lens of the assessment design in a digital world framework (Bearman et al., 2022). Specifically, the paper focuses on (a) describing the…

Utilizing panel data and taking heterogeneity and persistent inefficiency into account, we show the limitations of standard efficiency analysis for higher education institutions. It is the first time that the concept of long-term inefficiency is considered in the analysis of traditional universities. This inclusion allows for more accurate…

In the ever-evolving domain of higher education, the introduction of artificial intelligence (AI) marks a pivotal moment, promising to redefine the essence of academic assessment. This evolution brings with it a surge of potential to streamline and enrich assessment methodologies, yet it simultaneously ushers in a period of uncertainty and…

Digital technologies have transformed the way people interact, work and learn. The emergency transition to online teaching and learning necessitated by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has posed a serious challenge to instructional routines of higher education systems across OECD countries. The pandemic has demonstrated the ability of higher…

COL's mission is to help governments, institutions and organisations expand the scale, efficiency and quality of learning by using appropriate open, distance and technology-based approaches. In 2021-2027, COL will: i) build on its expertise in ODL, OER and TEL to play a more influential role in national policy development and implementation; ii)…

Among the major trends in the higher education (HE) sector, the development of rankings as a policy and managerial tool is of particular relevance. However, despite the diffusion of these instruments, it is still not clear how they relate with traditional performance measures, like unit costs and efficiency scores. In this paper, we estimate a…

Along with the reform of Chinese Government public finance, higher education belongs to the public product, gradually changes from "fund investment management" to the "expenditure performance management". The evaluation of expenditure performance system becomes the key point of higher education investment mechanism reform. This…

The differences between evaluation of academic units and evaluation of administrative units are discussed, and the development and implementation of a procedure for administrative unit evaluation at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is described. (MSE)

Methods and criteria for evaluating the instructional effectiveness of computer-assisted training systems are outlined and discussed. (MSE)

A discussion of France's National Evaluation Committee for higher education describes its origin and the rationale for its creation, the place it fills within higher education in that country, details of its first year's activity, typical procedures for institutional evaluation, and its general evaluation criteria. (Author/MSE)

This monograph describes a variety of approaches to understanding how cost and quality are related and offers analytical tools. The analyses focus on the direct cost of instruction for a course, a course of study, or an academic program and do not include related support services such as the library or academic computing. Following an introductory…

This policy brief examines the graduation efficiency index (GEI), a measure developed by the University of Washington to enable the state to measure a student's or institution's efficiency in graduation. The study compares the GEI index with time-to-degree, the most widely used related measure, and finds that the latter does not measure student…

The article reports preliminary observations on data from six colleges on application of a regression model to help explain observed differences in instructional efficiencies of specific curricula. A major finding was that the most efficient distribution of students is in the humanities and social sciences. Tentative explanations for this finding…

This article describes the cost-of-quality model used at El Camino College (California), which formally measures the costs associated with process improvement activities. A case study illustrates use of the model in evaluating a new process for reimbursing faculty and staff attending conferences. (DB)