Spanish universities have just three months to finish implementing (some have already implemented it, others are in the process) of a new accounting method that will allow them to know down to the penny how much each service they offer costs them. Analytical accounting, a tool that has been talked about for years in the sector, must be a reality on all Spanish campuses by March 2025, as established by the Organic Law of the University System (LOSU).
With this method of detailed accounting, rectors can know in detail the cost of a student of a certain degree on a specific campus, how much an hour of teaching by a professor, a subject, how much an hour of research costs, keeping open a building one day, a place in a university residence, an hour of use of a sports hall, which faculty is more efficient in the use of electricity or water or any other question that falls within university competitions.
For example, the University of Zaragoza (Unizar), one of the references on this issue, already knows that a graduate in Medicine finds it difficult 9,517.3 euros per year on the Zaragoza campusof which 8,630.4 correspond to teaching. However, Unizar also knows that the same student has a cost of 11,509.3 euros on the Huesca campus (9,907.4 euros in teaching).
Having this information will allow rectors to make more informed decisions, explain experts in the tool. Also to compare with other centers and know where they are in efficiency. For example, explains Juan Hernández Armenteros, retired professor of Applied Economics at the University of Málaga and one of the greatest experts on the subject, “if the production of a graduate is around 40,000 euros on average in the public system, then one university, according to its analytical accounting, costs 28,000 euros and another 72,000 (these are realistic figures). How can this difference be explained? What are the reasons for one to have values so far from the average?” Analytical accounting allows us to know in detail all the factors that make up this expense (the cost of the teacher, the installation, the supplies, etc.) and to study what happens and how to improve it.
But it should not be used as the only factor when making decisions. Returning to the case of Unizar, the fact that a medical student in Huesca costs 21% does not necessarily mean that the university should close the degree that is more expensive. “In the public university, profitability does not have to be only economic, it can also be social.” [tener un campus en Huesca articula el territorio, fija población, crea empleo…]. That said, public spending must respond to the criteria of efficiency and effectiveness,” says Amparo Navarro Faure, rector of the University of Alicante and president of the Management sector of the Conference of Rectors of Spanish Universities (CRUE), the body that has been in charge of developing an analytical accounting model to make it available to centers that wish to use it.
Increase confidence in the system
But if the tool itself is not new – the private sector, more concerned with competitiveness, has been applying it for a long time – why has it taken so long to be implemented in the university? “We don’t necessarily like this, not everyone agrees,” explains one of the reasons Javier Ferreira, manager of the University of Santiago. “It’s like making a striptease of the institution.”
It also influenced, says Hernández Armenteros, that analytical accounting was not useful for what it was thought to be useful for. And the balloon deflated a little. The universities believed that with this accounting method, once they knew the real cost of their services, they could establish their public financing needs, but, as both Ferreira and Hernández agree, this application is quite limited.
“Analytical accounting can be used to establish a reference cost for any service so that each university can see how close or far it is from that cost. But the financier [las comunidades autónomas] It doesn’t tell you that you have to be below that cost in each section. A global calculation is made, so that a university can exceed the cost in one service and compensate for it by falling short in another.” But for that you need to have the information and use it, something that was not happening.
At the University of Santiago, Ferreira says, they have been making reports with analytical accounting for years, but they did not take advantage of it. “We had the information, but until the 2017-18 academic year it was not used much. It was had and published, without further ado.” Little by little it is being found useful to improve the operation of the center. “We have a great capacity to raise research funds,” Ferreira gives another example. “Analytical accounting now allows us to identify to the penny the expenses incurred by different centers to raise funds. Then we incentivize the most efficient ones: we return a part of their costs to those who earn the most with less spending.”
Analytical accounting serves to inform the public about how and at what cost the universities it supports with its taxes operate. How much does a degree or a student cost and what part is paid by the interested party and what part by the state, thus increasing transparency and trust in the system
It also serves to inform the public about how and at what cost the universities that it supports with its taxes operate, explains José Andrés Dorta Velázquez, director of Analytical Accounting at the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, thus increasing transparency and trust in the system. “We have verified through an access counter that citizens consult the reports on the dates on which the media or the university itself notify that said reports have been published. Citizens do have a certain interest in analytical accounting, and giving access to such information increases the trust they may have in universities.”
In this section, citizen curiosity usually focuses on the cost of studies. “Normally they focus their attention on knowing the cost of the different degrees or the cost per student. This suggests that, although direct access to analytical accounting is not a common practice, there is a latent interest in specific aspects that directly affect students and their families.” And you can know – and assess – that a graduate has a cost that on average is between 45,000 and 50,000 euros for the 5.2 years on average that it takes to complete a degree, of which the student will contribute about 5,000 euros, explains Hernandez Armenteros.
This information, Dorta continues, serves to raise awareness among students, “who can observe that their tuition only covers part of the total cost, with the rest being provided by public income,” but also among the institution’s professionals about the cost of the subjects. that they impart. The same thing happens when health systems issue invoices for the cost of their services, even if they do not collect them.
In the section on highlighting and accountability, Dorta also highlights how it will positively affect research. “Research has a high cost, in which staff salaries play a crucial role. In addition, it is important to consider the indirect costs that the university incurs so that research projects can be developed, such as the maintenance of infrastructure, administrative services and other necessary resources. This management tool allows universities to demonstrate the value and importance of their research activities, justifying the investment and highlighting its impact on society. This not only improves transparency and accountability, but can also attract more funding and support for future research projects.
In the end, the sources consulted agree, it is about knowing. To have more and better information about universities, how much their products cost and why, so that they can make more informed and surgical decisions.
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