The Impact of “Tuition-Paying” Policy on Retention and Graduation Rates at the University of Ghana

Abstract

African universities over the past decade have developed new modes of financial mobilization in search for fiscal solutions to the declining public support for higher education. The creation of the “tuition-paying” (“dual track” or “fee-paying”) admission track policy, a variant of cost sharing, is one of such strategic initiatives that has gained popularity in public universities in Ghana and other East African countries. Using official institutional data, this descriptive study examines and compares retention and graduation rates of students enrolled in the University of Ghana as “tuition-paying” and regular admits. The author discusses the factors accounting for students' attrition and persistence in the University of Ghana. The article concludes that, although the “fee-paying” scheme has had some potential successes in revenue generation and enrollment expansion, there exists graduation gap/disparity between tuition-paying and regular admits (non-tuition-free students).