Full-Time Equivalence Metrics and Financial Efficiency of Ghanaian Public Higher Education Institutions

Abstract

This study examines the application of Full-Time Equivalence (FTE) metrics and their relationship with financial efficiency in Ghanaian public higher education institutions (HEIs). Using a mixed-methods design, the study integrates panel data from 151 public HEIs from 2018 to 2022 with semistructured interviews involving 14 senior financial and administrative officers and documentary analysis. Fixed-effects and random-effects panel models were employed to examine cost efficiency, while deductive thematic analysis explored institutional practices and policy implications. The results indicate that institutional scale, revenue per student, and expenditure per student significantly predict the unadjusted Cost Efficiency Ratio (CER). However, after workload normalization, the FTE-adjusted model exhibits weaker effects, with individual predictors failing to attain conventional levels of statistical significance. Qualitative findings nevertheless demonstrate the operational importance of FTE for staffing, budgeting, resource allocation, and institutional planning, while revealing inconsistencies in calculation methods, fragmented data systems, and the absence of standardized reporting protocols. The findings suggest that FTE is most valuable as a standardized planning and resource-allocation metric whose effectiveness depends on institutional data quality, governance capacity, and regulatory coherence. The study recommends standardized national FTE reporting protocols, strengthened institutional data systems, and the progressive integration of FTE measures into evidence-based budgeting and performance-financing frameworks.

Key words: full-time equivalence (fte), financial efficiency, public higher education institutions, higher education resource allocation, Ghana