Cost Analysis in Education: Paradox and Possibility

Abstract

In comparison with other types of program evaluation, cost analysis of educational programs and policies is a relatively recent phenomenon. Costbenefit and cost-effectiveness analyses were developed by economists in the 1930s and 1950s, respectively, but it was not until the 1960s that these approaches were used to assess efficiency in the educational sector (Levin, 1991). While the vast majority of education program evaluation studies focused exclusively on the effectiveness of various alternative courses of action, the competing pressures associated with an increasing array of policy options in a climate of growing resource constraint make cost-based evaluations of educational programs and policies more relevant now than ever. This leaves us with an interesting paradox to consider: why such a seemingly relevant form of analysis has been so underutilized in the field of education.

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