HIGHER EDUCATION SERVICES: THE STRUCTURE OF THE PROPOSAL AND THE LEVEL OF COMPETITION

Abstract

The renewal of the development strategy requires that higher education establishments make a determining decision — to continue functioning in the developed field of knowledge, expending the specialties spectrum, or to investigate new fields. The accumulated experience of market reforms allowed the establishments to realize the educational potential (the licensed amount) to a greater extent. The conducted unbiased analysis showed the dependence of the implementation of educational potential by institutions of higher education on the degree of competitive struggle in the market of educational services in various fields of knowledge. The structure of the fields of knowledge and specialties at the education services market in Poltava region is the consequence of understanding the educational needs by the educational establishments, which, in this case, follow their own interests. The higher education establishments considered the choice of the most required specialty in several fields of knowledge to be commercially successful. The availability of several establishments in certain fields of knowledge decreased the chances of each establishment to realize its educational potential. The higher the degree of competition in the specialty is the lower the chances of all the establishments are. The higher the establishment’s potential, the more likely it is to win the competition. This general condition is almost always elucidated by a very important circumstance, which makes it impossible to determine the direct relationship between the size of the establishment of higher education and the chance to realize it. This is a qualitative aspect of the potential that reflects competitive advantages. The fact that, for a high degree of competition, some establishment of higher education carry a large set of students with a small licensed volume, while others, having a large license volume, count far fewer students, due to the presence of competitive advantages, which can not always be calculated. There is no direct dependence between the amount of the establishment potential and the chance of its realization. The victory in the competition is determined by the establishment quality aspect reflecting the competitive advantages. Having put a lot of effort into licensing and accreditation, establishments of higher education were extremely reluctant to stop the recruitment of students by specialty. A simple way to increase the level of implementation of the establishments’s capacity is to reduce the licensed volume. At the same time establishments of higher education are constantly choosing another path — improving methods of struggle, which also influences the decisions on optimization of the potential. It will take a long time before economic pragmatism will mount over the ambitions of establishments. The use of «none conservative (medical) treatment», but «surgical interventions» will help establishments to save and maximize the facilities and optimize their range of services.