Investments and Funding in Education
Instructor: Maria Psylaki,
Course Description and Objective
In a constantly evolving economic environment, the aim of this course is to provide students with specialized and up-to-date knowledge of banking practices, enabling them to understand the challenges and opportunities that educational institutions face.
More specifically, the course presents the banking system, how loan amortizations are calculated, the various financial tools available to educational institutions, and alternative forms of financing, such as leasing, factoring, and more modern fintech tools like crowdfunding, which is highly relevant today.
The course also explores investment in education from the public sector's perspective, including methods of economic and social evaluation.
Methodology
Both theoretical and practical knowledge will be presented and analyzed, using case studies related to the different forms of financing for businesses and professionals. At the same time, public investment in education will be addressed from both a theoretical and applied perspective.
Lecture Schedule
Week 1: Basic Concepts – Time Value of Money
- Return – Interest Rates
- Present and Future Value
- Annuities
- Loan Amortization Calculations
Week 2: Financial Instruments
- Types and Framework of Financing
- Financial Engineering Instruments
Week 3: Leasing
- Definition
- Main Categories of Leasing
- Request Procedure – Participants – Beneficiaries
- Advantages and Disadvantages of Leasing
- Comparison between Leasing and Bank Financing
Week 4: Factoring (Receivables Financing)
- Definition
- Main Categories
- Services Provided
- Case Study Analysis
Week 5: Crowdfunding
- Definition
- Main Categories
- Advantages
- Risks
Week 6: Private and Public Investment in Education
- Definitions
- Key Categories and Concepts
- Differences and Similarities
- The Concept of Economic and Social Evaluation
Week 7: Methodology of Economic and Social Evaluation
- Definitions and Key Concepts
- National Parameters and Shadow Prices
- Estimation of Economic Costs and Benefits
- Social Discount Rate
- Benefit-Cost Ratio
Week 8: Decision-Making Tools for Investment in Education
- Definitions
- Main Categories
- Multi-criteria and Single-criterion Methods
- Methodology of Multi-criteria Analysis
Week 9: Project Scheduling Methodology
- Definition
- Main Categories
- PERT and GANTT Charts
- Activities and Network Scheduling
Week 10: Evaluation Indicators for Educational Investment Projects
- Profitability Ratios
- Activity Ratios
- Liquidity Ratios
- Capital Structure Ratios