COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF COST MANAGEMENT IN HIGHER EDUCATION BRAZILIAN FEDERAL INSTITUTIONS

Cost management is a difficult task in public universities. This research aims to investigate recent experiences of cost management in Brazilian federal higher education institutions (HEFI). This is a qualitative content analysis of management reports from HEFI, by using the Atlas.ti software. The analysis reveals that 40% of the studied HEFI do not make use of a cost evaluation system and that integration obstacles with support information systems complicate cost management. Mandatory insertion of cost center information and legal requirements are the main drivers for HEFI to evaluate their costs. The displaying of data from the Federal Government's cost portal has been recurrent in the management reports. There is a clear need to standardize the cost evaluation methodology and train the HEFI staff. This study reveals how great the challenge is for HEFI to adapt to funding constraints in Brazil.