Reforming the Public Universities Financing Scheme: The Case of Ghana’s Higher Education Transformation Agenda

Abstract

Public higher education institutions in Ghana are confronted with unending financing constrains every academic year thus affecting the financial health of these institutions. The financial sustainability of these institutions has become increasingly critical due to the persistent reported funding gaps and the weak funding allocation regime. Countries the world over have begun implementing reform programmes to deal with issues of financial sustainability of higher education. The study employed quantitative research methodology with a well-validated research instrument. This correlational study attempts to measure the relationship between the financing scheme variables and financial sustainability. The outcome of the study revealed that there was statistically significant relationship between the combined effects of the variables while three variables out of the seven were found to be significant in predicting best fit equation for financial sustainability. The study recommends to the Ministry of Education (MOE) and the National Council for Tertiary Education (NCTE), a review of the funding policy direction with a precise focus on addressing Ghana’s higher education infrastructural deficit, skills gap, improving research, science and technology.