The cost of vocational training

Abstract

Discusses the methodological issues in costing two common types of vocational training programmes: institutional vocational training and enterprise‐based vocational training. Points out that the survey/interview approach should be used to collect data from institutions instead of from the government in costing institutional vocational training, and that more frequent use should be made of the case‐study and survey methods in costing enterprise‐based vocational training. Based on empirical studies on both developed and developing countries, analyses the costs of different types of vocational training programmes. Shows that training costs are influenced by such factors as the technology of training, teacher costs and their determinants, programme length, extent of wastage, extent of underutilization of training inputs and scale of operation. In general, vocational/technical education is more costly than academic programmes and pre‐employment vocational training is more expensive than in‐service training. Discusses the implications of these findings for training policies.

The rate of return to the HighScope Perry Preschool Program

“… Notes: a A ratio of victimization rate (from the National Crime Victimization Survey) to arrest rate (from the Uniform Crime Report), where “by type” uses common ratios based on a crime being either violent or property and “separate” does not; b “high” murder cost accounts for value of a statistical life, while “low” does not; c Source: National Center for Education Statistics (Various) for 1975–1982 (annually); d Based on Michigan “per-pupil expenditures” (special education costs calculated using (National Center for Education Statistics, Various, 1975–1982, annually)); e Based on expenditure per full-time-equivalent student (from National Center for Education Statistics (1991)); f Based on regular high school costs and estimates from Tsang (1997); g Treatment minus control; h In thousand dollars; i Gross earnings before taxation, including all fringe benefits. Kernel matching and PSID project are used for imputation and extrapolation, respectively;…”

“…Estimates by Tsang (1997) suggest per-trainee costs which are 1.8 times the per-pupil costs of regular high school education. …”

The Rate of Return to the High/Scope Perry Preschool Program

“…26 We assume that all costs are paid by the general public. Estimates by Tsang (1997) suggest per-trainee costs which are 1.8 times the per-pupil costs of regular high school education. 27 At each interview, participants were asked to provide information about their employment history and earnings at each job for several previous jobs.…”

Cost Analysis for Improved Educational Policymaking and Evaluation

“…Its application in traditional education ranges from the costing of education interventions in the classroom or school to the costing of an entire education system or plan (Coombs & Hallak, 1987;Levin, 1983). Cost estimation has been conducted for a large variety of programs at different levels, including early childhood education programs (Barnett, Frede, Cox, & Black, 1994), special education programs (Hartman, 1990), career-oriented high school programs (Chambers, 1994), and vocational education and training (Tsang, 1997). The cost of new technology (including new education media and computers) in traditional education or distance education has been and will continue to be an important area of application (Jamieson, Klees, & Wells, 1978;Klees, 1995;Levin, Glass, & Meister, 1987).…”