Case study: student services benchmarking |
Last Updated:
Abstract
The purpose of the benchmarking exercise was to collect information on how higher education institutions allocated revenue which is earned through the capitation fee.
Challenge
We were approached by a higher education institution who wanted to benchmark themselves, so they could gauge how their practice measured up in relation to others. The purpose of the benchmarking exercise was to collect information on how higher education institutions allocated revenue which is earned through the capitation fee.
Approach
The approach taken was to:
- Approach a number of higher education Institutions (two Universities and three Institutes of Technology) who were willing to engage in the benchmarking
- Visit each site and obtain data to show how the income was allocated to various activities and services
- All organisations who provided information for benchmarking received the output report
Solution
- Identified significant variances between Institutions in their allocation of capitation fees over the various activities and services provided. This benchmark facilitated our client to redistribute their capitation fee to areas of greater need
- The benchmarking assignment also identified one Institution who offered a service to students that was wholly self-financing whilst in all the other Institutions the same service was a huge drain on resources
- It was beneficial to all the institutions who participated in the exercise as it gave an insight and understanding into the operation of similar institutions
- It also gave the participants ideas on how to best allocate the funds to the best possible gain
