Measuring the Cost of Quality in Higher Education: A Faculty Perspective

Most critical activities in colleges and universities are driven by financial considerations. It is thus important that revenues are found to support these activities or ways identified to streamline costs. One way to cut cost is to improve the efficiency of schools to address the issue of poor quality. In this paper, the cost of poor quality in higher education is measured by using the activity-based costing approach. The activities measured in the cost of quality are viewed from the perspective of faculty members who are deeply involved in the critical activities of teaching and learning. Information on the cost of quality can help to assess whether an institution is going in the right direction. It can also help to identify changes and improvements that an institution can pursue to avoid staying on the wrong path for too long