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Higher education institutions train professional and scientific personnel. Therefore, the quality of higher education and its funding are vital for training highly qualified specialists. This study analyzes the annual volume of expenses (investments) per student in groups of countries, divided according to their socio-economic development, and competitiveness of higher education. The division of countries into groups is based on simultaneous compliance with the criteria for the quality of higher education and the level of social and economic development. The Ward’s clustering method was applied. The analysis was conducted based on data from 32 OECD countries and partner countries. The paper found a significant direct correlation between the level of competitiveness of higher education and the amount of its funding per student (R = 0.895). At the same time, a significant direct correlation was revealed between the level of competitiveness of higher education and the human development index (R = 0.787) and the global competitiveness index (R = 0.888). Finally, a significant direct correlation between the amount of expenditures and the level of competitiveness of higher education was found only in the cluster with the highest indicators of socio-economic development (Rs = 0.707). In other clusters, the correlation is weak or weakly inverse.

The article is devoted to the analysis of the efficiency of higher education funding from the perspective of higher education applicants (cost of education) and from the perspective of the state (budget expenditures, investments in preparation of specialists). The article contains the main indicators of socioeconomic development of the OECD countries and Ukraine. The analysis has shown that in Ukraine the amount of higher education expenditures as a percentage of GDP has an average value compared to the OECD countries, while this amount in monetary terms is significantly lower than in other countries. The efficiency of higher education costs for the individual and expenditures for the state in the OECD countries and in Ukraine have been evaluated. The efficiency of individual costs of higher education is calculated using the discounted cash flow method, applied to the cost of education and the difference in wages between qualified and unqualified personnel. The efficiency of public spending on higher education (investment in the training of specialists) is calculated using the discounted cash flow method applied to the share of public spending on higher education and GDP growth generated by labor with better skills. The results of the calculations have shown that the efficiency of state expenditures on higher education is higher than the efficiency of individual costs.