Question

UNIVERSITIES AROUND THE COUNTRY HAVE BEEN BECOMING MORE COMPETITIVE OVER THE YEARS. OBVIOUSLY, TUITION IS A KEY DETERMINANT OF DEMAND FOR UNIVERSITY ATTENDANCE, BUT THERE ARE OTHER METHODS OF INCREASING THE ENROLLMENT RATES. IN FACT, UNIVERSITIES HAVE BEEN USING DIFFERENT STRATEGIES TO INCREASE ENROLLMENT SUCH AS ONLINE COURSES, FLEXIBLE ATTENDANCE, REDUCED COURSE LOAD, INTERDISCIPLINARY MAJORS ETC. IF YOU WERE HIRED BY THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT (LET'S ASSUME THAT THE GOVERNMENT IS NOT SHUTDOWN ANYMORE) TO ESTIMATE THE PRICE ELASTICITY OF DEMAND FOR UNIVERSITY EDUCATION, WHAT KIND OF STEPS WILL YOU TAKE? WHAT KIND OF DATA WILL YOU NEED? WHAT IS YOUR DEPENDENT VARIABLE? WHAICH VARIABLES DO YOU THINK INFLUENCE THE ATTENDANCE DECISION (INDEPENDENT VARIABLES)? YOU DON'T NEED TO OBTAIN DATA AND ESTIMATE ANYTHING, JUST EXPLAIN YOUR THINKING STRATEGY.

Answer 1

To determine price elasticity of demand one needs data regarding total availability of seats and average cost of education as well as total supply of students graduating every year.

To determine the attendance as variables one must understand and measure following independent variables :

1. Quality of Education
2. Professors average teaching experience
3. Quality of infrastructure
4. Quality of programme
5. Total number of hours per lecture
6. Total number of assignments per student.

To estab3higher attendance rates on emust address following strategic plans:

1. Flexibility in attending lectures through webinars and live classroom
2. Case studies and role play based experiental learning
3. Internships opportunities every month
4. Guest Faculties and top industry Stalwarts for lectures
5. Expert mentoring and feedback for each student
6. Personalised coaching facilities for each student
7. EMI payout for students as well as various scholarships to get concessions and waivers
8. Live industry oriented case study competition to boost hands on experience and engage students with corporate exposure