A Formula for Pricing Educational and Training Programs

January 21, 2011

Many people ask me how to price their programs. There are a number of ways to approach this. One simple, straightforward formula for pricing educational programs:

Work out your costs. Double the total. That’s the price you charge for your program.

This is just one method used by “big institutions”. It ensures that you really have covered all your costs (including the ones that you sometimes forget to factor in such as insurance, etc.) Surpluses go back into your organization for future programming and capacity building.

When you calculate your costs, here is a partial checklist of items to consider:

Instructor salary – How much are you paying your instructor per hour? Remember to add in benefits, vacation pay and any prep time you pay.

Management and administrative support – How much of your time as a manager is put into each course? Ask your coordinators or admin staff to calculate how much time they spend prepping for and working on a given course. Multiply that by their hourly wage. That’s your cost for admin support for the course.

Rent – If you lease a space or pay rent, work out how much your space will cost you for each hour of your course. Take the square footage of your classroom and then add in all public areas accessed by students and staff during the course including the reception area, bathrooms and lunch room. What do those spaces cost you per hour? Multiply that by the number of hours in your course. That’s an approximate cost for your rent.

Utilities – What do you pay for phone, Internet, heat, hot water, etc.? If you work in a large institution it may not be easy to work out these numbers. Figure out an estimate though. You’re still paying for these things, even if it is only indirectly.

Insurance – What insurance do you cover for your premises (fire, theft, etc.) and for your staff (liability, workers’ compensation, etc.) – Although the amount may be small, allot a portion of these costs to each course. Without them, you can’t run your programs.

In my experience, the first time managers figure out their real costs to run a course, they are surprised. They want to go back and check the numbers. “That can’t be right…” they say. In most cases, the number is right. As educators, we often underestimate our real costs to run programs. Become aware of your actual costs. When you double them to arrive at a price for your programs, you are becoming fiscally responsible by making sure there’s money left in the pot to keep your programs and your organization sustainable over the long term. You’ll have some extra in case of emergencies (and there are always emergencies), to subsidize a course you believe in strongly and enough to stay afloat when the economy tanks.

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Update – January 2018 – This blog has had over 1.8 million views thanks to readers like you. If you enjoyed this post, please “like” it or share it on social media. Thanks!

Sarah Elaine Eaton is a faculty member in the Werklund School of Education, University of Calgary, Canada.

1 Comment | language program administration, marketing, Uncategorized | Tagged: , , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Sarah Elaine Eaton, Ph.D.

The shocking thing my student said

December 16, 2010

At the end of our last Spanish class for the semester, a few of the students stayed behind to chat and visit for a few minutes. They were an excellent group and had interacted well throughout the semester. Many of them thanked me for a good class, which I always appreciate.

One student, Sam, we’ll call him, said something I’ve never heard before and it shocked me in a way that few comments from a student have in 16 years of teaching.

“You’re the first instructor at university to learn my name,” he said. “I really appreciate that.”

I reeled in disbelief.

“What year are you in?” I asked.

“Third year,” he replied. “I’m on schedule to graduate next year.”

“What’s your major?” I probed further.

“Sciences. This is the only class I’ve ever had that has fewer than 100 people in it. None of the other profs learn our names. I suppose they can’t with that many students.”

I nodded in agreement. My classes have grown in size since I started teaching and with 35 students this year, it took me longer than usual to learn everyone’s name.

He went on to say, “I want to be a science teacher, but not here. I want to work in a place where I can get to know my students. This place is a factory.”

Not wanting to enter a discussion on the state of post-secondary institutions today, I simply remarked that I thought he had many qualities that would make him a good teacher.

He’s got good, solid grades and comes to class on a regular basis. He’s interested and engaged, polite and congenial. He’s got a decent work ethic and works well with other students in class. His classmates like him and he gets along with just about everyone. He’s not a super-duper genius, and nor is he a complete trouble maker. That’s part of the trouble, I suppose. Not being at the far end of either side of the scale, he gets lost in the crowd.

How sad… this student pays thousands of dollars a year in tuition for higher education and even as he approaches graduation, almost no one knows his name. As educators, we make a powerful connection with our students when we learn their names (or at least try).

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Update – January 2018 – This blog has had over 1.8 million views thanks to readers like you. If you enjoyed this post, please “like” it or share it on social media. Thanks!

Sarah Elaine Eaton is a faculty member in the Werklund School of Education, University of Calgary, Canada.

2 Comments | education, second languages | Tagged: , , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Sarah Elaine Eaton, Ph.D.

Spanish, French, German and ASL: Most Popular Languages Taught in US

December 8, 2010

Dan Berrett’s article, “Getting Their Babel On” (Inside Higher Ed, Dec. 8, 2010) shares the results of a study conducted by the Modern Language Association (MLA) in terms of university students in the US studying foreign languages. Here are the highlights:

  • The rate at which students took foreign language courses in 2009 remained constant, compared to three years prior.
  • The number of enrollments in language courses grew from 1.57 million in 2006 to 1.68 million in 2009, or 6.6 percent. However, the total number of enrollments in undergraduate courses as a whole also increased. In simple terms this means that language courses account for 8.6 of every 100 course enrollments in post-secondary institutions. That number has remained the same since 2006.
  • Of every 100 undergraduate degrees earned, 1.16 of them are in foreign languages.
  • 70 % of undergrad degrees in foreign languages are earned by women.
  • The most popular languages to study (aside from English, which is not considered a “foreign” language in the US) are Spanish, French, German, and American Sign Language, in that order.
  • American universities teach a total of 232 different languages.
  • Arabic boasted the highest increases in enrollments last year, with a 46% increase over the three previous years.
  • Graduate program enrollments in languages have dropped by 6.7 percent since 2006.

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Update – January 2018 – This blog has had over 1.8 million views thanks to readers like you. If you enjoyed this post, please “like” it or share it on social media. Thanks!

Sarah Elaine Eaton is a faculty member in the Werklund School of Education, University of Calgary, Canada.

2 Comments | education, languages | Tagged: , , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Sarah Elaine Eaton, Ph.D.

Global Education Conference

November 16, 2010

The Global Education Conference, November 15-19, 2010 brings together educators from over 62 countries. Over 300 general sessions are being held, all on line, during a variety of time zones. There is no formal registration required for the conference, as all the sessions will be open and public, broadcast live using the Elluminate platform, and available in recorded formats afterward.

Presenters are sharing their slides on the conference’s Slideshare site.

Today I gave a session on Global Trends in Language Learning in the 21st Century. I’ve posted my slides there, too. Here’s a quick link to them, too.

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Update – January 2018 – This blog has had over 1.8 million views thanks to readers like you. If you enjoyed this post, please “like” it or share it on social media. Thanks!

Sarah Elaine Eaton is a faculty member in the Werklund School of Education, University of Calgary, Canada.

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Posted by Sarah Elaine Eaton, Ph.D.

Promise only what you can deliver

November 8, 2010

There are no two ways about it: education is a competitive business. A huge component of a learning organization’s reputation is its credibility. As non-profit organizations and schools jump on the marketing bandwagon, there is a temptation to promise more than you can actually deliver. There is no faster way to lose a good reputation than by disappointing your learners, or their parents, depending on who is footing the bill for their education.

Promising fluency in three weeks or guaranteeing students a certain score on internationally recognized tests are bad ways to market your program. Why? Because you’re lying to them. And lying does little to build trust or an excellent long-term reputation.

A more effective way is to show students what they will be learning and the benefits they will receive. You can do this by including a syllabus in your promotional package and on your web site. Be honest about the kinds of activities and excursions you take them on. Don’t promise them they will go whitewater rafting and horseback riding unless you actually plan to take them. (By the way, it is a good idea to check with your insurance policy before endorsing high-risk activities for your students.)

Many language schools do promise only what they can deliver, only to work with the occasional agent or representative who inflates the promises while they are promoting the school abroad. While many agents are legitimate, there are those who are not. It is worth your while to review all literature your agents plan to send out on your behalf, even if that means hiring a translator. Your credibility is on the line, and it is your responsibility to ensure that prospects are getting a true picture of your school before they sign up.

Another way to boost your credibility is to outline on your web page exactly what students can expect from your program. That way, it is clear and you will show that you are being accountable to your students and to your own sense of credibility.

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This post has been adapted from “Idea # 14: Promise only what you can deliver” from 101 Ways to Market Your Language Program.

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Update – January 2018 – This blog has had over 1.8 million views thanks to readers like you. If you enjoyed this post, please “like” it or share it on social media. Thanks!

Sarah Elaine Eaton is a faculty member in the Werklund School of Education, University of Calgary, Canada.

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Posted by Sarah Elaine Eaton, Ph.D.

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