ECONOMIC EFFICIENCY OF ESG STRATEGIES IN UNIVERSITY MANAGEMENT

The main goal of this research paper is to look at the economic side of Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) strategies in the management of universities. Usually, when people talk about ESG, they think about ecology or doing good deeds for society. However, for an economics student, the most important question is whether these strategies make financial sense. Universities today are facing a lot of problems with funding. The government gives less money, and the competition for students is getting higher every year. Therefore, this paper analyzes whether spending money on ESG is just a cost or if it is actually an investment that brings money back. To do this, I used a conceptual analysis method and looked at secondary data from various reports and scientific articles. I also reviewed the literature to see what other researchers say about this topic. The findings suggest that ESG is actually economically efficient. For example, the "Environmental" part helps to cut down the bills for electricity and water, which reduces operational costs (OpEx). The "Social" part is important for marketing because it attracts students who care about ethics, keeping the revenue from tuition fees stable. The "Governance" part helps to avoid risks and scandals that could lose the university money. In conclusion, the paper argues that university managers should stop seeing sustainability as a burden and start treating it as a smart financial strategy for the long term