INTEGRAL ASSESSMENT OF THE FINANCIAL STABILITY OF UNIVERSITIES

Abstract

University management systematically faces the problem of objectively assessing the financial stability of higher education institutions (HEIs). This challenge arises due to the influence of external drivers, including the instability of institutional support, changes in approaches, reductions in budget funding, the consequences of the Covid-19 crisis, war, population migration abroad, destruction of the material and technical base of HEIs, a decrease in the solvency of the population, and the psychological status of employees. In the paradigm of this study, the financial stability of universities is investigated as their ability to form a positive financial space, create value propositions considering time demands, ensure income growth and diversification, rational distribution of resources, maintain liquidity and solvency, and respond flexibly and quickly to the challenges of the time. The purpose of the article is to methodologically justify and practically implement the integral assessment of the financial stability of universities based on the point method, utilizing both static and dynamic approaches. The information base of this study comprises data from the Unified State Electronic Database on Education as of October 1 of the reporting year, financial information, and rectors’ reports for the years 2017 to 2022, which were published on the websites of the Higher Education Institutions. The sample includes 35 HEIs of Ukraine, varying in types (classical, polytechnic, pedagogical, economic, and others), scale, and location. The main results of the study are as follows: - a three-criterion approach to determining the integral indicator of financial stability: the first criterion is contingent (scale), encompassing indicators demonstrating changes in student numbers according to public and private forms of education, the ratio of teacher supply to applicants, the level of budget allocations and private financing per student, and expenses for wages per student; the second criterion is cash flows, represented by liquidity indicators and a financial cushion; the third criterion is income and expenses, including indicators characterizing the change in income, their diversification, the level of income per 1 student and teacher, the share of marginal income, the ratio of income and expenses, the coefficient of coverage of fixed expenses by income; -the method of calculating the integral indicator of financial stability based on static and dynamic approaches was justified and tested using the example of 35 HEIs in Ukraine; - four types of financial stability of universities were established according to the maximum value of the integral indicator: stable (41–50 points), normal (31–40 points), risky (21–30 points), and crisis (20 or fewer points). The method of calculating the integral indicator of financial stability of universities proposed in the article is a tool for making tactical and strategic decisions by university management.