Through the CapacityPlus project, IntraHealth designed a costing study approach to: 1) estimate the financial costs to an educational institution and its associated clinical practice facilities of producing a graduate of a specific academic program; 2) identify the resource constraints to producing sufficient numbers of quality graduates; and 3) simulate the potential new unit cost to the educational institution and its associated clinical practice facilities if a scenario of interventions were introduced to increase the quantity and/or quality of graduates. The approach applies an Excel-based costing model and data collection instruments to analyze preservice education costing data derived from information about enrollment levels, curriculum data, school expenditures, payroll, and available infrastructure and equipment.

This document can be used by any individual or group that has an interest in estimating the cost of an educational program, including school leaders in both public and private educational institutions; representatives of national governmental organizations such as ministries of health or education; national technical agencies, regulatory bodies, or associations; international technical agencies; and donors and financing agencies interested in health workforce education. It is important to note that an expert in economics or costing is required to lead the study.