Question. Pricing strategy of an educational institution

1. SPECIFICS OF SETTING PRICES FOR EDUCATIONAL SERVICES

The pricing policy of a university concerns vital aspects of its existence and further development. Pricing is a conceptual expression of the strategic goals of the university. It reflects the nature of the services produced, their characteristics and the characteristics of the corresponding market.

In general terms, services have distinctive features from goods. They:

• intangible (do not have physical form, weight, volume);
• inseparable from the consumer (they are of an individual nature of consumption, they cannot be separated from the source. The teacher cannot provide the service if there are no students);
• unstorable (they cannot be accumulated and transported). It is really impossible to create a stock, store and store educational services. Educational and methodological materials, books, textbooks, monographs, dictionaries are an encoding of the main provisions, opinions and intentions of the author. But educational services are always a process in which the decisive role is played by university staff and the consumer (teacher - student);
• inseparable in production and consumption (they exist simultaneously);
• unstable in quality (they cannot be repeated or standardized; quality depends on who, when, where and how the service is provided);
• have no property (lack of ownership). Services are not, unlike goods, anyone's property.

The material and technical capabilities of the educational process are limited.

It is impossible to accurately predict demand for educational services. This is even more true regarding a new educational service (novelty). Demand for this service is almost impossible to predict. It is impossible to actually test the new product. Bringing such services to the market is always fraught with risk.

Educational services relate to the socio-cultural sphere of society. And this area determines the characteristics of supply and demand as fundamental factors in determining prices.

Firstly, the demand for educational services is always individual and precedes their production. In other words, it is almost impossible to prepare in advance and produce the service in the form in which there is demand for it.

The inseparability of supply and demand determines the local nature of the services market. Moscow universities are much better equipped and staffed than peripheral ones. It is Moscow universities that determine the upper limit for tuition fees.

Secondly, the process of price formation is due to their high social significance. Therefore, the state subsidizes a number of universities, mostly state-owned. Purely market tools for organizing the activities of these universities are not always effective, which is why they strive to be closer to the budget. There is a need for a combination of free and paid services, and the trend of price discrimination towards certain consumer groups continues.

In this regard, university marketing management has two directions: marketing of a non-profit structure and marketing of its commercial structure. We mainly study the second one.

Thirdly, the sphere of educational services is characterized by asymmetry of information. A consumer who does not have reliable information about the quality of the service offered considers its price as an indicator of quality and reliability.

The nature of the market in which it appears has a significant impact on the process of setting prices for educational services, the choice of marketing strategy and pricing policy of a university.

Schematically, the market for educational services looks like this (Fig. 1).

Picture 1
Scheme of the educational services market

The market for educational services is all potential consumers seeking to satisfy their educational needs and capable of entering into an exchange relationship with the seller.

In relation to higher education, an educational service (product) is understood as the process of obtaining a certain set of knowledge and practical methods of applying it, capable of satisfying the individual’s need for his professional status and growth.

This article reflects the practical experience of the formation and implementation of the pricing strategy and policy of the Russian State University for the Humanities.

Universities have long acted as independent operators in the educational services market. State universities, having lost 100% budget funding and received relative economic freedom in return, are commercializing their activities.

Currently, the educational services market is monopolistic in nature with elements of oligopolistic competition.

2. CONCEPT OF PRICE IN THE MARKETING MIX SYSTEM

Pricing is the process of setting a price. There are two types of prices for educational services.

1. The demand price, i.e. the maximum price that consumers would be willing to pay.
2. The offer price is the minimum price for which the manufacturer would agree to sell its services. Ideally, these prices would satisfy both parties. But in practice, especially in market conditions, this usually does not happen.

By not finding the optimal balance, the manufacturer loses more than the buyer. Having failed to further take effective measures to reduce costs and conserve resources, the manufacturer must eventually stop production or abandon the production of this type of service.

The price to the consumer is more than a certain amount of money that the seller asks for. The price includes other than just monetary elements. This includes risk, reliability, evidence of quality, etc. The perception of price largely depends on the information about the product that the buyer has.

It may seem that the target group of consumers is well aware of the current prices of competitors and other universities for the same educational services and rationally makes decisions about purchasing a more advantageous priced service. Many studies show that consumers perceive price as an indicator of quality. This is explained by the same asymmetry of consumer awareness about the quality of educational services. Here, promotion of a trademark or brand can play an exceptional role.

The marketing strategy traditionally relies on its 4 “Ps”; for educational services, the boundaries of the marketing mix are wider; we use the 7 “Ps” (personal, process, physical surround), and the seventh component is the educational environment (the physical space where the service is provided).

This is what the marketing mix of educational services looks like (Fig. 2).

Figure 2

3. ANALYSIS OF THE PRICE OPERATION ENVIRONMENT

Analysis of the demographic, economic and social environment provides a reliable guide to the correct approach to pricing. Changing environmental characteristics influence tactical decisions regarding price adjustments.

The main cost elements of setting prices are the costs of remunerating teaching and administrative personnel and the costs of maintaining and equipping classrooms and buildings. Any change in fixed or variable expenses, be it an increase in tax rates, an increase in utility bills, an increase in salaries, or bonus rates affects the level of profitability.

The environmental factors influencing prices include the main ones: type of educational institution (university), buyers, competitors, and other entities. On this basis, a pricing strategy, a specific price and tactical maneuvers are built.

Type of educational institution (university)

We rely on an analysis of the practical application of pricing at the Russian State University for the Humanities, which trains specialists with higher education in more than 30 specialties.

Buyers

Buyers have different reactions to prices, which depend not only on their different awareness of services, but also on their social status, the role that the purchased service can play in their personal plans and life goals. The main social composition of our target audience is people with middle class status, of which 80% belong to the group with an income of 150 to 300 dollars per person per family, 20% of them have an income of more than 300 dollars per person. These data were obtained through surveys of applicants and university students. When analyzing the forecast, we used research data from the analytical group of the Expert magazine (report “The Middle Class in the Education Market”).

Compared to 2001, the solvency of our target audience in 2002 increased. According to Expert magazine, 50% of families in Moscow believe that their financial situation has improved, and about 60% highly assess their financial capabilities. At the same time, most of them are ready to pay for a second higher education, graduate school and additional business education.

In February-March 2002, during the spring wave of the “Middle Class Lifestyle” research project, 3,040 respondents representing 3,040 families and households were surveyed in 16 of the country’s largest cities.

The main criterion for selecting respondents was an income level exceeding $150 per month for each family member (Fig. 3).

Figure 3
Distribution of respondents by income level at the beginning of 2002 in the 16 largest cities of the country (income per family member per month)

In total, in Russia at the beginning of 2002, 10-11 million families (20-22% of the total number of Russian families) had incomes from 150 to 1,000 dollars per month for each family member. The information obtained allows us to extend the conclusions obtained during the analysis of survey data to these 10-11 million families.

Of interest are the obtained data on preferences for investing in the education of funds depending on the amount of income per family member (Table 1).

Table 1
“Would you like your children to receive an education?” (Distribution depending on income in US dollars per family member per month, %)

These figures indicate that average Russians prefer higher education for themselves and their children. Among these categories, 14.8% of respondents are willing to pay for business education, and 18% are willing to pay for two higher education degrees.

The vast majority of respondents (more than 90%) want their children to receive higher education.

30% would like their children to receive a higher education in the humanities.

Among those whose income is less than $400 per month for each family member, 31% want a liberal arts education for their children; among those whose income is more than $600, only 18%.

Among those who themselves have a higher education in the humanities, 43% want the same education for their children. But among those who have a higher technical education, only 22% want their children to receive a higher education in the humanities.

Competition

The effectiveness of pricing depends not only on consumer demand and buyer response, but also on the competitive behavior of the university itself and other participants in the educational services market.

It is known that the structure of the market depends on the number of sellers and the degree of differentiation of services.

When determining prices, the prices of competing universities of the same type play a major role. Of course, sales growth can only be achieved by reducing competitors' sales volumes and reducing their market share. Real price wars in the education market are not so far away, given the approaching critical phase of the demographic situation in the country.

For successful competitive strategy and tactics, it is necessary to constantly monitor competitors' prices and their pricing maneuvers.

The difference between your own price level and the prices of competitors is revealed through the presence of significant competitive advantages.

The most significant ones are those related to costs and the unique characteristics of the service.

A cost advantage may be that the service can be produced or distributed at a lower unit price than competitors. This opportunity is provided by the state status of the university, its favorable location, established teaching staff, research base, unique specialties, etc.

The uniqueness of services depends on their value characteristics. For example, at the Russian State University for the Humanities there are unique specialties and specializations such as: artificial intelligence in the humanities, sociology of marketing, sociology of politics, business PR and advertising, organization and technology of information security. The value characteristics of these services make it possible to set prices for them higher than those of competitors.

In a number of leading specialties at the Russian State University for the Humanities, we compete with 7-8 universities. In other specialties, the number of competing universities reaches 15-17 in Moscow.

There remains high demand for such specialties as law, economics, management, management, psychology, marketing, advertising, and information technology. Our market share for most of these services is insignificant and does not allow us to count on high demand. In this case, prices for these specialties do not exceed the prices of market leaders. At the same time, we have a high market share in popular specialties such as document management, information security, psychology, sociology, and archival science.

Other subjects

These include, first of all, government agencies, the Ministry of Education of the Russian Federation.

Certain laws and regulations impose legal restrictions or expand the legal capabilities of other market operators. Prohibitive or restrictive activities indirectly or directly affect pricing strategy. This is especially noticeable in the regulation of financial relationships in the structure of distribution channels of educational services (partners, representative offices, branches in the regions).

4. PRICING OBJECTIVES

Analysis of the macroenvironment of price functioning significantly influences the setting of pricing goals.

The goals of the university, like its strategy, stem from its mission.

Here is an approximate set of goals in pricing educational services of a university:

1. Profit maximization, return on investment, targeting different market segments.
2. Cost reductions, cost recovery
3. Maximizing market share, containing the market.
4. Focus on demand, increasing sales volumes, using flexible prices for services within the product line.
5. Focus on competitors' prices.
6. Striving for social justice.

Often several goals are used, and then management is required to clearly agree on them. We focused on the last three.

5. STRATEGY AND PRICING TACTICS

Pricing strategies can vary, but they all depend on two main factors:

• characteristics of target markets;
• goals of the university (segmentation, competition, price flexibility within the product line).

Customer segments are difficult to define, but a strategy aimed at consumer demand is the most preferable.

In practice, the most common strategies can be found:

• a sharp reduction in prices for services relative to prices offered by other universities;
• offering customers to pay full price for the entire set of services (including additional ones) and at the same time benefit from discounts.

Many universities (usually commercial ones) offer their products (specialties) of lower quality, but at an inflated price. Managers of these universities are confident that uninformed consumers will take these inflated prices as an indicator of quality.

Institutions that offer a wide range of educational products and services, for example, universities use differentiated prices. Thus, the price for some services is set lower than for services that are in high demand, for example, law, global economics, management and entrepreneurship.

A wide portfolio of services is also characterized by an image pricing strategy. Status consumers acquire the version of the specialty that they value higher than others. For example, art history, applied linguistics, philology of ancient culture.

The so-called combined pricing deserves special attention. This strategy bundles several specializations into one package at a price. Its use is justified both by differences in consumer preferences and by their uncertainty in choosing a specific service. Here, different products will be offered at different retail and wholesale prices in one package.

The most accessible method is to calculate a markup on the average cost of services. All universities use this method. It can be easily calculated as a cost plus profit model. Economists use it especially often, since it’s easy to calculate your expenses and make a markup. It can be considered universal if there is no serious price competition, and if there is confidence that buyers will pay exactly this amount of money.

What does the manager do if the price and offer fail to match? He studies the structure, quantity of demand, its elasticity from price changes.

The relationship between the amount of demand for a specific service and its price is expressed by a demand curve, which, in accordance with the law of demand, has a negative slope.

The slope of the demand curve, its elasticity, determines the size of the price reduction required to increase demand by 1%. It is known that if the curve has a steep slope, a significant reduction in price is required to reach the point where demand is 1% more. Conversely, if the demand curve is flat, you can limit yourself to a slight decrease in price (Fig. 4).

Figure 4
Graph of elasticity of demand curve

Several measurements of price elasticity for specialties in 2001 and 2002 were carried out. Prices for some specialties were changed in 2002. For some positions they were raised to 35%, for others they were reduced. We recorded an adequate consumer reaction. Sensitivity to prices for educational services exceeded all our expectations. Buyers responded to some specialties with a sharp decline in demand, which required the price to be reduced to a level below 2001 and slightly reduced for some other items.

In practice, the price setting method linked to the demand price is widely used. Marketing managers collect information about the prices of nearby competitors and determine the “price ceiling” for a given service, that is, the amount that consumers are willing to pay. Based on the “ceiling”, a price is set, of course, not lower than the cost price.

It is close to the method of setting prices “based on competitor prices.” Its essence is that a marketer, studying the educational services market, determines which universities are its leaders and which are outsiders. In the future, when forming your own price, you can focus on the current price level. This method is known as “following the competitor.” Analyzing their own capabilities (expenses), managers compare their products in terms of quality, perceived value by consumers (brand, location, etc.) relative to competitors' prices. The prices set in this way may be higher or lower than the prices of other market operators for similar types of educational services (specialties and specializations, second higher education, MBA, postgraduate studies, courses, etc.).

Another pricing method is the flat and flexible pricing policy. Without changing the price for a long time, the university demonstrates its stability in the provision of services, while the number of services in one product line may change. A flexible pricing policy is the establishment of various discounts or markups. The price here varies depending on the provision of services, but not depending on who purchases them.

When setting the final price, the psychological aspects of its perception by the buyer are taken into account (unrounded prices, only in rubles).

Price is the only element of the marketing mix that directly generates income; its other components contribute only to expenses.

Pricing policy is a complex problem, the solution of which must take into account macro- and microenvironmental factors (costs, demand, competition), including past own mistakes and mistakes.

The key method of pricing in marketing is to study the positions and opinions of customers, their perception of the value of the service. Here it is important to determine the needs and assessments that express the relationship between prices and product value.

When pricing based on perceived value, the main thing is to capture the consumer's point of view of the brand.

Information obtained from consumers regarding their approach to evaluating services and the benefits they believe they will receive in the future is essential. Thus, during surveys of representatives of the target audience, data was obtained on their planned costs of education.

For the marketing of educational services, the importance of the sociocultural factor increases significantly. Social roles and statuses that consumers strive for largely determine their choice and determine their attitude towards the price of a service. Educational services in purchasing behavior are considered not just as an exchange of money for a specific set of knowledge, but as an exchange for individual, personal, social benefits, and for the lifestyle that they may have in the future.

Pricing in this case should take into account not simply and not so much the traditional cost characteristics of production and provision of educational services (cost and profit, markup), but rather the significance of the brand and its assessment by representatives of the target audience.

The brand, awareness of its influence on the emotional, psychological behavior (not only cognitive) of consumers, significantly changes the existing traditional ideas about the pricing of educational services.

Familiarization with a specific brand of a university, which has a reliable and high reputation, becomes decisive for the consumer when he decides to part with his money. One can strongly adhere to the view that the brand, as an added value, will increasingly determine the final price of a university’s educational service.

This indicates increasing competition in the education market, increasing the role of university marketing communications, positioning of its services, and the formation and strengthening of its unique brand.

To estimate future demand, you can use some other forecasting methods: expert assessment; market testing; assessment of demand by intermediaries, etc. The general limitation of all these and other methods is that pricing managers for educational services cannot control the final prices on the market. Prices are difficult to change after concluding a contract for the purchase of a service; they cannot be promptly adjusted.

The strategy determines the long-term structuring of prices, and the tactics determine their prompt change (price discounts). For example, strategic pricing may have the goal of increasing overall sales in the long term (for example, if the classroom fund allows, you can strive to recruit as many students as possible for a paid form of education), while price discounts are measures to stimulate sales, they relate to pricing tactics.

The most valuable thing here is getting the immediate effect of the stimulating price reduction. The positive response to incentives is greater than to advertising, and the costs cost nothing.

This tactic brings good effect when it is brought to the consumer through the media. This is where the real seasonal advertising fever begins. This is the time when all media outlets make good money.

This is what the proposal form looks like for prices for majors and specializations, presented by the marketing and advertising department to the university management (Table 2).

table 2
Offer form for prices for specialties and specializations

DAY DEPARTMENT Speciality, direction (specialization)

budget places

who applied for a paid form

Tuition price (thousand $)

Price increase 2000 to 2001,%

Total amount for specialty 2002

Required number of people 2002-2003

high, medium, low

New price

6. CONCLUSIONS

Recently, universities have increasingly begun to pay attention to pricing policy.

A pricing strategy can bring the desired result if systematic work is carried out to analyze the state of the internal and external environment, taking into account its changing market opportunities. If marketing deeply and firmly penetrates the consciousness of top education managers, it becomes a reliable tool for achieving the main goals of the university. This can be done when the different interests and needs of target groups of end customers, price maneuvers of competitors and taking into account their current prices are taken into account. Where competitive opportunities are constantly monitored, price sensitivity of various consumer groups is analyzed, and media and PR campaigns are thought out and balanced, success is much higher.

Pricing practices used in actual operations are sometimes still inconsistent with the marketing approach. Consumers, target audiences, clients (students) do not become the main reference point in the strategic planning of universities. Managers are confident that their educational services are of high quality, and the main obstacle to their successful dissemination is ignorance and low culture of consumers and clients. Marketing research is ignored and the purpose of marketing is seen solely as sales promotion. Top management of some universities and line managers of educational structures still have a philistine understanding of advertising and public relations. Until now, they are confident that everything is going well for them without any advertising, nothing needs to be changed.

It’s strange that an article about pricing in a university should end with this. But we have to admit that the marketing strategy is not yet in demand in universities to the proper extent and, perhaps, an analysis of the practical experience of the marketing and advertising department of the Russian State University for the Humanities will become a positive example. Sources

1. Kotler F. et al. Fundamentals of Marketing. M., 2000.
2. Esipov V. Prices and pricing. Textbook for universities. St. Petersburg, 1999.
3. Egorshin A.P. Management, marketing and economics of education. Textbook. N. Novgorod: Nizhny Novgorod Institute of Management and Business, 2001.
4. Marketing. Reader. St. Petersburg, 2002.
5. Middle class in the education market. Project of the magazine "Expert", 2002.

Periods of school holidays, if they do not coincide with the employee’s next vacation, are normal working days for him, during which he can carry out organizational work, prepare for the educational process, and decorate his office within the limits of the teaching load that was assigned to him before the start of the holidays.

For hours of teaching work performed in excess of the established norm, additional payment is made based on the received rate (salary) in a single amount.

Formation of the wage fund . In recent years, the only item of expenditure of educational institutions that is fully financed from the budget is the cost of paying wages. Therefore, the full use of all legally established standards to maximize the wage fund is of great importance. The wage fund in educational institutions consists of a tariff and a super-tariff fund.

You should also pay attention to the differences between states and staffing levels of educational institutions.

Standards model states are considered as the minimum amount of work required for institutions, which does not exceed the indicators provided for in them for the introduction of a particular position. The higher education authority, based on standard staffing levels, approves the staffing levels of the educational institution. Within the limits of the funds allocated to the institution, it independently approves the staffing table and has the right to replace some positions with others. Individual positions can be introduced using funds received from legal entities and individuals, as well as income from the educational institution’s own activities.

Statement staffing table educational institution is within the competence of the educational institution itself. Therefore, an institution can independently introduce rates, for example, a deputy director for science, bearing in mind only the following restrictions:

– the total amount of funds allocated for wages;

– common sense of the administration (it must be taken into account that the money allocated for the salaries of deputies is spent at the expense of the team);

– only the position that is in the “Tariff and Qualification List of Positions” can be entered into the staffing table.

6. Fundamentals and methods of pricing. Price – monetary expression of the value of a product, allowing for the effective exchange of goods and services; or an economic category that reflects the amount of socially necessary labor spent on the production of goods.

Pricing – the process of establishing the price value.

There are a number of pricing methods.

1. The method of calculating prices using the “cost plus profit” formula remains quite popular for three reasons. First, sellers know more about costs than about demand. By tying price to costs, the seller simplifies the pricing problem for himself. He doesn't have to adjust prices too often based on demand. Second, if all organizations in an industry use this pricing method, their prices will likely be similar. Therefore, price competition is reduced to a minimum. Third, the seller believes that he is setting a “fair” price for both himself and the buyer.

2. The cost-based method is the calculation of prices that ensure a certain amount of gross profit. This is a more complex, but also more flexible method. It involves comparing different combinations of prices and sales volumes and choosing the option that will allow you to overcome the break-even level and achieve the planned profit.

3. Method of setting a price close to the demand price. Marketers identify the “price ceiling” for a given product—the amount that consumers are willing to pay—and then try to maximize profits by managing costs without exceeding this “ceiling.”

4. Following competitors, primarily the leaders, focusing on the current price level. Small businesses follow the leader, changing prices when the leader changes them, and not depending on fluctuations in demand for goods or changes in their costs. Some organizations can calculate their price by providing a constant discount or markup on the leader's price, depending on the properties of their products and location.

5. Standard, variable or flexible pricing policy. When organizations strive to keep prices unchanged for a long time, instead of changing prices (while increasing or reducing costs), they can reduce or increase the quantity of goods supplied in one package or change the standard set of services. Organizations can also choose a flat or flexible pricing policy. Under a uniform price system, an organization sets the same price for all consumers who would like to purchase a product under similar conditions. The price may vary strictly in proportion to the quantity of products purchased, but not depending on who purchases. A flexible pricing policy is an adjustment to the base price by providing discounts or setting markups. The buyer negotiates with the seller, and as a result of this bargaining, the final selling price is established.

Thus, pricing appears as a complex process, during which not only objective factors (costs, demand and competition), but also many subjective ones must be taken into account.

7. Pricing in an educational institution. In the field of education, price (P) is the monetary expression of the cost of an educational service, reflecting the amount of socially necessary costs for its creation.

The price of an educational service (P) must not only cover costs (C - cost), but also ensure profit (P): P = C + P.

There are three possible relationships between price and cost in a market economy:

C=C – the educational institution will only reimburse its costs and will not make a profit;

Ts>S – the educational institution makes a profit.

1. Selecting a pricing goal. Exist three main pricing strategies lytics: ensuring survivability; profit maximization; market retention.

For an educational institution, in accordance with its mission, the first and third goals of the pricing policy are acceptable.

Ensuring survival is the main strategy of educational institutions operating in conditions of fierce competition. To achieve this goal, reduced prices are used - penetration prices, they are designed to capture a certain market share and help increase the volume of educational services sold and, as a result, increase the total profit received by the educational institution.

A pricing strategy based on market retention consists of an educational institution maintaining its existing position in the educational services market. To this end, all possible measures are being taken to prevent a decline in the sale of educational services.

2. Determining the demand for educational services. It is impossible to reasonably calculate the price without studying the demand for educational services. In conditions of fierce competition for educational services, the higher the price, the lower the demand. All other things being equal, a consumer with a limited budget will refuse to purchase high-priced services if he is offered a choice of alternative services of the same quality but at a lower price. Often the consumer does not think much about the quality of services. However, this ratio will be different if we are talking about the implementation of prestigious educational services. Consumers of prestigious educational services believe that high prices are due to improved quality of services.

The main tool for researching and setting prices for educational services is the analysis of supply and demand dependencies. The demand curve is determined by the dependence of the demand for a service on the selling price. The supply curve shows the dependence of the price of a service on its supply on the market. At the point of intersection of these curves, equilibrium occurs; demand equals supply. And the price corresponding to this is the equilibrium price, i.e. satisfies both the educational institution and the citizen.

The main factors influencing the level of elasticity of demand:

– the presence of a similar educational service on the market determines the increase in elasticity. An increase in the price of an educational service by an educational institution leads to a decrease in demand for it, since it is possible to purchase another, similar service;

– the elasticity of demand falls with increasing monetary income;

– high quality of educational services determines the increase in elasticity.

3. Calculation of costs (cost) of training. The demand for educational services limits the upper price level that an educational institution can set. The cost price (production costs) of services determines its minimum value. When the price of educational services decreases below their cost, producers of educational services incur losses. Large educational institutions can afford such a policy only during a short period of penetration into the educational services market. Let us recall that the calculation of cost (C) is carried out according to the formula: C=M+A+3+0+H,

where M is the cost of materials, raw materials and semi-finished products;

A – depreciation charges;

3 – wages (basic and additional);

О – mandatory accruals on wages;

N – overhead costs.

These data are available on the balance sheet and can be used, adjusted for inflation, to calculate costs.

4. Analysis of competitors' services and prices. In order to assess competitive advantages, you need to compare your costs with those of your competitors. If the educational service is similar to the services of other educational institutions, then it is necessary to keep the price close to the price of competitors, otherwise the number of applicants will decrease. An educational institution can set a higher price when the educational service it provides significantly exceeds its competitors in quality. It is necessary to take into account that competitors may change prices for educational services during the process of admitting applicants.

5. Selecting a Pricing Method. Methods for setting prices for educational services must ensure their implementation and achievement of certain targets of the educational institution.

6. Base price calculation. The optimal price should fully reimburse all costs of the organization for the provision of services, as well as ensure the receipt of a certain profit.

The key factor in setting price based on customer perception is the consumer's perception of the value of the service, not the cost. Whether the price is right is up to the consumer to decide. Pricing begins with identifying needs and assessing the relationship between price and value of the product. There are so-called reference prices that the buyer keeps in mind and uses when searching for an educational service. Guided by such prices, the consumer makes his choice by comparing the consumer properties and prices of similar educational services offered on the educational services market. Manufacturers and intermediaries offering educational services can actively influence the formation of reference prices. The application of this method is based on experience, intuition, good knowledge of consumer psychology, and market testing results.

There are psychological pricing techniques:

– demonstration of relatively low prices for some services in the vicinity of high prices for other educational services;

– refusal to link the base price to the dollar exchange rate (cu);

– promise of unchanged prices throughout the entire period of study;

– all kinds of discounts (payment for the year with a 10% discount, discounts for repeated training – 10–15%, benefits for former military personnel – up to 20%, benefits for the disabled – 10–15%);

– use of unrounded prices (for example, 1,000,999 rubles).

7. Additional Considerations. After calculating the base price of an educational service, there is the following set of prices: calculated base price, demand price, offer price, competitors’ prices, previous year’s price. Additionally, you should take into account: the projected inflation rate; projected growth in real incomes of the population; planned economic growth by sectors of material production; projected growth of students by levels (types) of professional education; mortality and birth rates of the population and their ratio; results of sociological surveys of the population and expert opinions.

8. Setting the final price (price list). The price will fall somewhere between too low to make a profit and too high to limit demand. The minimum possible price is determined by the cost price. Competitors' prices for similar services set an approximate value that should be used when setting prices. The opinion of citizens about the features of the proposed educational service sets the price ceiling.

9. Adjustment of the price of the service taking into account the interests of buyers. Price adjustments are always very painful for students, and they may go to another educational institution where the price is lower. Therefore, the price of an educational service should be flexible and adjusted depending on the conditions of the target market for the educational service. In conditions of creeping and, especially, galloping inflation, it is hardly advisable to set a stable price in rubles for the entire period of study. The maximum period for a fixed price is 1 year, if it includes interest on inflation. Sometimes it is better to approve prices for a six-month or quarterly period, or to include a percentage increase in price in the training agreement.

Pricing strategy – the institution’s choice of possible dynamics of changes in the price of services in market conditions that best corresponds to the organization’s goals. If an educational institution concludes that an effective response is possible and necessary, it should apply one of the following: threeresponse options:

1) reduce the price. A leader (a large university, academy or institute) can reduce its price to the level of its competitor. An educational institution may decide that the market is price sensitive and that by holding the price, it will lose significant market share to a competitor offering a lower price; or that it would be too costly for the institution to regain lost market share. A decrease in prices leads to a short-term drop in profits, so some organizations, in order to maintain profit margins at the same level, reduce the quality of their services, the level of logistics and market relations, which ultimately negatively affects the market share of educational services in the long term. perspective. Therefore, when prices are reduced, an educational institution should strive to maintain the quality of its educational services at a high or average level without losing its image;

2) improve the quality of education. By maintaining the old price, an educational institution can ensure that the educational services it provides are perceived by citizens as being of higher quality. An institution can increase its impact on citizens by constantly emphasizing the qualitative superiority of its educational services over the cheaper services of a competitor. An institution may find that it is more profitable for it to invest money in increasing the consumer value of a service than to reduce the price and ultimately receive a lower profit;

3) improve quality while increasing price . An educational institution can improve the quality and raise the price, thus making its educational services more expensive. Higher quality justifies a higher price, which, in turn, provides the educational institution with higher profits, and, consequently, the opportunity to attract more qualified teachers and improve the logistics of the educational process. An educational institution may not change the price for a given service, but offer a new service on the education market that occupies a higher price position.

To ensure an effective pricing policy, it is necessary to develop pricing strategies, i.e. the educational institution’s choice of the possible dynamics of changes in the price of its services in market conditions that best corresponds to the goals of the educational institution.

Developing a pricing strategy is not a one-time event. It needs to be revised in cases where:

– modification of educational services is carried out;

– the service goes through the next stage of its life cycle;

– costs (cost) of training increase;

– the price of educational services becomes the object of attention of government agencies.

Pricing tactics includes solving a number of problems:

– establishment of long-term or changing prices;

– establishing psychologically attractive prices;

– differentiation of prices depending on the quality of training;

– redistribution of costs within the range of services;

– use of discounts when setting prices;

– market price insurance (inclusion of the price of risk in the price of educational services).

Practical task

Task 1. Subordination. Your superior manager, bypassing you, gives an urgent task to your subordinate, who is already busy completing another important task that you personally received from the director. This is not the first time your superior manager has done this, and you know about his strained relationship with the director of the organization. Both tasks are urgent. Select an acceptable solution:

– express to your subordinate your disagreement with the task of the superior manager and force him to carry out the urgent task of the director;

– in the interests of business, involve another employee of yours in performing assigned tasks;

– write a memo addressed to the director about what happened and ask to issue an order on the procedure for administrative influences in the organization;

– contact your superior manager with a request to give instructions to your subordinates only through you and ask to reschedule the deadline for his assignment.

Task 2. Psychological situation “Choice of a deputy.” The municipal education authority appointed Alexandrov as director of the educational institution. His predecessor retired, leaving the efficient team in a difficult financial situation. Prior to this, Alexandrov worked as deputy director for three years. He is an extrovert, sociable, literate, rather phlegmatic or sanguine by temperament, more focused on work results. Alexandrov needs to choose two deputies. There are several candidates with different sets of business qualities and psychology of relationships:

a) Ivanov is focused on human relations, strives to ensure that the team has a friendly climate, mutual trust among employees, and the absence of conflicts. However, he devotes a lot of time to contacts and communications and does not always achieve the planned indicators for the department. Ivanov’s decisions and instructions are not always specific and designed for competent employees;

b) Petrov is focused on work and achieving final results. He is still a young leader, ambitious, always achieves his goals using an authoritarian leadership style. In the interests of the cause, Petrov aggravates relations, regardless of the faces and without taking into account the psychology of the employees, for which he received the nickname “careerist”;

c) Sidorov prefers to work strictly according to the rules, is always careful in carrying out management tasks, is demanding of his subordinates, and maintains formal relations with everyone. In the team they call him “cracker” behind his back. The unit fulfills the plan, but staff turnover is higher than in other units;

d) Nikolaev is focused on both work and human relationships. He is a very competent and authoritative leader with extensive work experience; his employees love him for his sincerity and willingness to help in difficult times. His main drawback is his weakness for alcohol, which has not yet greatly affected his work.

Exercise 3. Market pricing. Develop a pricing strategy for your educational institution for the next year. Choose one of the pricing strategies. Present it in text form or as a table with brief comments. Explain why you chose this strategy?

Exercise 4. Remuneration. B The school librarian works part-time as a teacher. On July 1, he goes on another vacation. When should he start work? How will vacation pay be calculated?

Control questions

1. Name the methods of administrative influence on personnel.

2. Consider the specific features of teaching work.

3. Why does a teacher’s work activity have a professional orientation even outside the statutory working hours? What can you say about the free time of a school teacher?

4. Describe the material and moral incentives for teachers’ work activities. What place does salary play in stimulating a teacher’s work?

5. What are the main criteria for differentiation of salaries for teaching staff? Do you agree with the opinion that the education indicator no longer plays a stimulating role and it is time to abandon it?

6. What do you think are the ways to improve the salaries of educators? How can the leveling be eliminated?

7. Is the teaching profession prestigious in our country? What reasons give rise to the outflow of specialists from the education sector to other sectors of the economy?

8. What structural changes are taking place in the professional composition of young specialists for sectors of the economy of our country?

9. What do you know about the human resources potential of university science and its commercial opportunities?

10. Describe the state of the educational level of teachers in secondary schools in the country. What do you know about structural changes in teacher training?

11. Consider the system of advanced training for teachers. What changes to this system are you aware of?

12. What pricing methods do you know?

13. Describe the stages of setting prices for educational services.

14. What typical pricing strategies do you know for educational institutions?

15. When should the price of an educational service be reviewed?

16. What options for responding to price reductions in the education market do you know?

17. Name the main components of remuneration for workers.

18. What regulations regulate the working hours of employees of educational institutions? What are the main features of teachers’ working hours?

19. How are salaries paid to teaching staff?

QUESTIONS FOR SELF-EDUCATION

on the topic “Development and qualitative improvement of provision

accessibility of education"

1. Should we focus on the principles of universal, compulsory secondary education?

2. Should school education be completely free, including optional study of certain subjects?

3. Is it advisable to extend the vocational guidance system to secondary schools and continue the creation of specialized gymnasiums and lyceums?

4. Is universal computerization of schools necessary?

5. To what extent is it effective to connect schools and universities through the “school-university” and “college-university” systems in order to facilitate the admission of graduates to some universities?

6. What is your attitude towards the centralized testing system?

7. Should preparatory courses for a state higher education institution be paid?

8. What is your opinion about the need for evening, correspondence, and external forms of education in secondary school?

9. Is nine years of general education in basic school sufficient or is universal eleven years of schooling necessary?

10. Is it necessary to extend the schooling process to 12 or 13 years?

11. What should be the minimum wage for a teacher?

12. Should admission to higher education institutions be based on grades in the school certificate?

13. Is it necessary to develop a system of non-state higher education, operating on a commercial basis, on a fee basis?

14. Should state universities be granted autonomy rights while simultaneously limiting their budget funding?

15. What do you see as the reasons for the aspirations of wealthy parents and their children to receive education in foreign institutions? Is it necessary to provide state and public support for such trends?

17. What should be the approximate level of hourly pay for teachers in higher education?

18. What type of universities should the state primarily support?

19. Should students be exempt from mandatory military service?

20. Do universities need paid government and corporate orders to train specialists?

QUESTIONS FOR TESTING

1. Essence, functions and types of education. Principles of state educational policy.

2. Economics of education as a science and academic discipline. Subject and object of study of the economics of education.

3. The education system and characteristics of its components.

4. Organizational and legal system of education management.

5. Concept and indicators of quality of education.

6. Main criteria for education quality levels. Criteria for assessing students and graduates.

7. State control in the field of education.

8. System, goals and criteria of management. Mission and philosophy of the educational institution.

9. Principles and methods of management.

10. Organization of the management system. Methodology for registration and registration of an educational institution.

11. Regulation of management. Types of regulations for educational institutions.

12. Management of strategy implementation in an educational institution.

13. Marketing of education. Concept and features of educational services.

14. Assessment of the competitive position and segmentation of educational services. Strategies and scenarios for the development of educational services.

15. The essence of marketing communications in the field of education.

16. The essence and composition of the material and technical base of the education sector. Goals and features of the economic mechanism in education.

17. Financing of educational institutions. Principles of the budget system.

18. Essence and classification of personnel by category. Personnel in the education system. Personnel management system.

19. The work of educators and its features. Organization and remuneration of teaching staff.

20. Pricing and pricing strategy in an educational institution.

LITERATURE

1. Administrative and legal foundations of public administration: Textbook. manual for universities on special. “Mr. management" / Under general. ed. A.N. Kramnik. – Minsk: Theseus, 2004. – 704 p.

2. On education: Law of the Republic. Belarus, 29 Oct. 1991, N 1202-XII. : in ed. Law of the Republic Belarus dated March 15, 2001 // National. register of legal acts of the Republic Belarus. – 2001. – N 2/303.

3. Raizberg, B.A. Public management and administration in the economic and social sphere: textbook [for universities] / B.A. Riseberg. – M.: Economist, 2007. – 191 p.

4. Raizberg, B.A. State management of economic and social processes: textbook [for universities] / B.A. Riseberg. – M.: INFRA-M, 2009. – 384 p.

5. Rudenkov, V.M. Organization of activities of budgetary and scientific institutions: [textbook for universities] / V.M. Rudenkov, I.K. Rudak. - Mn. : Modern School, 2008. – 448 p.

6. Sokolovsky, N.K. Economics of the socio-cultural sphere: educational and methodological manual for special students. “Public Administration” / N.K. Sokolovsky, O.N. Erofeeva, V.G. Garkavaya; Ministry of Education of the Republic of Belarus, EE "Belarusian State Economic University". – Minsk: BSEU, 2006. – 208 p.

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Pricing strategy is the institution’s choice of the possible dynamics of changes in the price of services in market conditions that best corresponds to the organization’s goals. The demand for educational services is formed under the influence of changes in the labor market and subsequent changes in public opinion about the prestige and profitability of professions. This explains the inertia of demand for educational services, that is, the delay in the reaction of consumers of educational services in relation to changes in the labor market - the “time lag”. The cycle of changes in demand for educational services can be about 10 years. Major changes in the economy and labor market cause huge waves of fluctuations in demand in the educational services market. The sensitivity of demand for various professions to changes in economics and politics varies and depends on the characteristics of the profession. Increased demand for specialties in economics, management and law creates “big waves” that lead to an overproduction of specialists and can cause a crisis for educational institutions. Betting on these specialties can generate significant income in the short term, but requires caution when planning the university's work in a strategic direction.

In addition to considering these issues, the educational institution must conduct a more in-depth analysis. It is necessary to determine the stage of the life cycle of your educational services, the significance of each educational service within the range of specialties of the educational institution, the intentions and resources of competitors, as well as possible reactions of citizens to price changes. However, it is not always possible for an educational institution to conduct a comprehensive analysis of alternatives when prices change. The competitor most likely spent quite a long time preparing for the decision to change prices, and the educational institution needs to respond to this step within several days. Almost the only way to reduce the time it takes to decide on retaliatory measures is to predict in advance the possible price maneuvers of a competitor and prepare in advance possible retaliatory measures for each of them.

There are various options for responding to the actions of competitors. Thus, if an educational institution determines that a competitor has lowered its price and that this pricing maneuver is likely to have a negative impact on the number of applicants, it can decide to keep the price and profit at the current level. An educational institution may assume that by leaving the price at the same level, it will still not lose a significant share of the market, but by lowering its price, it will lose a significant part of the profit. An educational institution can take a wait-and-see approach, postponing retaliatory measures until such time as it has more information about the results of a competitor's pricing maneuver. At this point, the educational institution may be willing to go so far as to retain more profitable clients and lose less affluent ones to a competitor. The main argument against such a retention strategy is that during the “waiting” period, the competitor can strengthen its position and begin to act more confidently, while the educational institution will miss the moment to take retaliatory measures.

If an educational institution determines that an effective response is possible and necessary, it should pursue one of three response options.

Price is the most important component of the marketing mix, since only it contributes to the accumulation of funds by the university. All other marketing activities, including market research, advertising, etc., are costly. Price is also the main criterion for making consumer decisions and, therefore, an element of the competitiveness and image of an educational institution.

Prices for educational services should ensure the financial sustainability of the educational institution and be maximally focused on solving the social problems of higher education.

The essence of price is revealed through functions.

The functions of prices and how they are implemented vary depending on the nature of the economic environment in which they are used. However, a number of so-called primary price functions are quite universal and applicable in various fields, including the education system. These include accounting, distribution, social and regulatory functions.

Accounting function is predetermined by the very essence of the price and shows how much it costs society to satisfy a specific need for a particular educational service.

However, this function in market conditions cannot be reduced only to measuring costs. To withstand competition, a university must constantly monitor its costs, compare them with the costs of competitors and develop measures to increase the competitiveness of the educational services provided.

In market conditions, the marketing policies of manufacturers, including educational services, predetermine the pricing strategy. At the same time, pricing policy is the main component of marketing activities, which is confirmed by the interchangeability of pricing and marketing functions. Thus, the function of self-regulation of commodity-money processes is based on the formation of prices, the level of which corresponds to the equalization of supply and demand. It is the competitive equilibrium of prices that stimulates the development of market relations. This function is acceptable in the field of education, because the demand for educational services can act as the main price regulator.

A typical example is the current pricing strategy for the implementation of educational programs in law and finance. The costs of training specialists in the fields of law, economics, pedagogy, and sociology are lower compared to the costs of training specialists in the field of pharmacy, medicine, architecture, technological and technical profiles. Nevertheless, the existing demand for economic and legal specialties has led to the highest fees for training these specialists on a contractual basis.

Distributive function prices make it possible to redistribute demand for a particular educational program and influence the promotion of a particular specialty or the numerical reduction in personnel training in specialties that are not in demand in the labor market. However, the independence granted to universities and the lack of a planned distribution of graduates hinder the operation of the distribution function.

In revealing the importance of the distribution function, it should be noted that its impact varies depending on the environment of application. As a result of the research, some regularities were identified. Thus, in state universities, contract prices for training specialists are much higher in comparison with non-state universities operating in this region. At the same time, tuition fees for newly opened specialties are set on a contractual basis, lower than in other universities. This pricing strategy is justified and understandable. A higher price is set for the guarantees that a state university provides, namely: a stable position of the university, issuing a state-recognized diploma, providing a deferment from military service, etc. And lower tuition costs are set for newly opened specialties in order to conquer the market and seize the initiative .

Considering that state universities have an educational base and receive budget funding, their additional costs are recouped even at a lower price, and this ensures higher competition and increases the attractiveness of the specialty for applicants. This explains the significant difference in tuition fees in state and non-state educational institutions.

In the 2008/2009 academic year, the cost of education in state universities exceeded the prices of non-state universities by almost 30%.

In the 2009/2010 academic year, the cost of full-time education at non-state universities has practically not increased since the beginning of the academic year. The cost of training at state universities in the general field of study "Economics and Management" is presented in Appendix 5.

The cost of training varies sharply across regions of the Russian Federation, which is explained by the level of income and solvency of applicants and their parents.

Social function prices. The price level predetermines the structure and volume of educational services, affects the standard of living and consumer budget of the family of a student in the field of basic and additional vocational education.

An example of the implementation of social principles of pricing is the system of discounts in force in a number of universities: for applicants from large families who have a low average income per family member; when two or more members of the same family are studying at a university; upon loss of a breadwinner; having a high score upon admission; with the aim of stimulating excellent learning. In these cases, non-state universities set discounts from 15 to 25%. Such a flexible pricing policy makes it possible to make education accessible to low-income families and attract talented applicants.

Regulatory function prices are related to the impact of the market on all areas of economic activity. Constant price fluctuations not only inform about the state of affairs, but also regulate economic activity. A rising price is a signal to expand supply; the price falls - a signal to reduce it. Information provided by the market forces universities to reduce costs and improve the quality of educational services.

In a market economy, the importance of price functions has changed, some have been lost, and the effect of others is limited. Purely market regulators and stimulants are mainly used, which does not contribute to the creation of an effective pricing mechanism. Prices for educational services, as a rule, are not justified, they are set spontaneously with a focus on demand and competition in the relevant region, the principles of formation are ignored.

The basic principles of pricing in the field of education are:

• scientific justification of prices;
• target pricing;
• continuous improvement of the pricing process.

The principle of scientific justification of prices in a market economy it is practically not used; the main “engine” is the market. The scientific principle lies in the study and use of economic laws of development of a market economy, such as the laws of value, demand and supply. The scientific justification is based on an analysis of market conditions and identification of factors influencing the price. In addition, there is a need for a clear, unified, justified system for the formation of costs and reasoned profit margins, ensuring the development of the material and technical base and stimulating the improvement of the quality of educational services.

Price development methods are determined depending on their appointments. Target priorities for different educational structures, differing in type, purpose, forms of education and other classification characteristics, have significant differences.

In the field of education, when determining tuition fees, it is necessary to be guided by the following goals:

• make educational services accessible to the general public, taking into account their ability to pay;
• attract applicants from other regions;
• promote specialties necessary for the development of the region;
• emphasize the prestige of the specialty and the university;
• guarantee price stability for the entire period of study;
• reduce prices for a one-time payment;
• limit recruitment if there is a surplus of specialists in the labor market, etc.

The most important pricing principle is continuous improvement of methods, calculations, reducing the labor intensity of determining prices, increasing the reliability of information support.

In modern economic theory, insufficient attention is paid to the principles of improving the price formation process, which has caused negative phenomena in the taxation system and the economy. These include significant errors in calculations, instability of payment, and inflation. Therefore, producers of educational services must be guided by the principles of improving the pricing process and monitoring the legality of setting prices and respecting the rights of the consumer of educational services.

In foreign economic theory, there are many price classifiers, which makes it possible to distinguish their different types. However, in the field of education, a limited number of prices are used: the price of selling educational services, the price is negotiated or contractual.

Pricing in education is the process of setting prices for educational services and products. To determine the price, a unified methodology is used, which is characterized by a set of basic provisions, principles and methods for determining the strategy, pricing concept, argumentation, price development and pricing policy management system.

In Fig. Figure 7.1 presents a diagram of the pricing mechanism in the field of educational services.

Rice. 7.1.

The economic literature widely presents the system of prices and their classification, but with all the variety of current prices, the issues of pricing for services in general and especially in the field of education are not fully covered.

The study of types of prices and methods of their calculation allows us to conclude that there are different definitions and characteristics of both types of prices and methods of their calculation. It should be noted that part of the conceptual apparatus was transferred from translated foreign literature, which is not always acceptable in the practice of a market economy; other definitions were inherited from the pre-perestroika planned economy.

Such conditions for pricing in the educational services market make it very difficult to theoretically substantiate pricing policy in the field of education, which previously did not exist at all.

The essence of pricing policy consists of selecting and maintaining the optimal price level in order for the university to achieve maximum success in the educational services market.

The development of the pricing policy of any educational institution is carried out in the following stages:

• the capacity of the educational services market in the region is determined taking into account the demographic situation;
• dynamics are studied and trends in the solvency of the population are identified;
• a forecast of the need for specialists is made (labor market);
• the indicators of competing structures are studied (student population, average annual enrollment, list of educational programs being implemented, tuition fees, staffing, availability of licenses and accreditations, material and technical base, etc.);
• the planned costs for the implementation of educational programs are calculated according to costing items or cost elements (if these calculations are available, analyze them, make adjustments taking into account changes in costs and the influence of inflationary processes);
• costs are calculated to be covered by profit (standard or target);
• the contingent of students is determined by forms of education and specialties, taking into account the fulfillment of licensing requirements;
• methods for calculating prices are justified;
• price adjustments are made for individual programs or for a certain student population when using a system of discounts or price premiums; the validity period of prices and the conditions for their adjustment are determined;
• prices are discussed at the academic council and approved by order.

In addition, when developing a pricing policy, it is necessary to take into account the method of calculating prices, the goals of the university, external and internal factors influencing pricing.

External factors influencing pricing– supply and demand in the educational market, state regulation of education, subjects of the market environment, competitors, etc. Most of the factors have already been discussed in the previous sections, so we will dwell in more detail on one of the most important factors influencing price formation – the demand for educational services.

The demand for educational services of a university is determined by the number of applications submitted. A university's admission plan for a specific specialty represents the university's proposal to meet demand. From a marketing point of view, the demand for an educational service is defined as the purchasing power of the population. In relation to the field of education, the law of demand states: the higher the price, the less the number of services for which there is demand, and vice versa, the lower the price, the more services are purchased by consumers. The demand for educational services can be depicted graphically in the form of a curve showing how many services, with changing prices and constant other things being equal, are purchased on the market over a certain period of time.

Example

Let's consider an example of constructing demand functions depending on consumer income and prices in the field of paid educational services.

When studying the dependence of demand for educational services (y) on income (g) at constant prices (R) Engel curves y = f(z) are constructed, the type of which depends on the type of goods and services (primary necessity, secondary necessity, luxury). Educational services can be classified as a group of essential goods and services, for which the Engel curve looks like a curve convex upward.

When choosing a demand function, you can use the so-called Tornqvist function, which for a given group of services has the form:

where z ≥ b.

This function, the graph of which is shown in Fig. 7.2, has a demand limit. At the same time, the demand for paid educational services appears only after the consumer’s income exceeds the value b. Parameter values a, b and the constants c in this demand function are determined empirically based on statistical data.

Rice. 7.2.

When studying the dependence of the demand for paid educational services on the price of these services (p) with a constant consumer income, the corresponding demand function is constructed on the basis of determining the profit P of an educational institution, which is expressed as:

where is the cost function.

Among the internal factors influencing pricing, training costs prevail. In modern economic theory (largely borrowed from Western countries), the term “costs” is gradually replacing the term “cost”. In business practice, these two concepts do not always act as synonyms, which is explained by the current accounting system, in which costs and costs are formed on different accounting accounts and are used in different areas of activity. Costs are formed in trade and public catering, and in industry and other areas (including education) the cost is determined.

Thus, the pricing policy of the university should be aimed at the break-even operation of higher educational institutions and the ability of buyers to purchase educational services at prices acceptable to them.

• Zvereva N.V. Features of marketing educational services in the field of higher professional education (using the example of distance learning): abstract of thesis. dis. ...cand. econ. Sci. M.: VZFEI, 2007.