Designed for educational administrators, this manual provides suggestions for reducing educational unit costs in Latin America without reducing the quality of the education. Chapter one defines unit cost concepts and compares the costs of the Latin American countries. Chapter two deals with the different policies which could affect the principal cost components and it describes the instruments needed to implement the respective policy. The policies under examination include double shifts, consolidation, year-round school, volunteer teachers, regional cooperation, use of lower cost factors in textbook production and classroom construction, radio and television courses, programed teaching, reduction of teacher dropouts, changes in teacher-training systems, reduction of teacher-education credit requirements, and changes in the salary scale. Chapter three offers a brief, general summary and conclusion. A bibliography and a series of case studies that illustrate how the different policies have been used in Latin America to reduce costs are also included. (DE)