Financing of Higher Education Institutions: Access to Funds and Issues of Equity

Abstract

Many developing countries have reached the stage of massification of higher education. But, the journey to massification is driven by most of these countries through private investment rather than public sector initiative unlike the countries in developed economies. While there is a growing demand for higher education, the fully funded public higher education institutions in urban regions lax attitude to explore alternative sources of funds have negative impact on existing scarcity of public funds to meet the urgent needs of other important sectors. It has serious implications for the existing higher education institutions in under- developed regions struggling for funds to cater to the growing demand for higher education. The paper is based on a case study of a private aided higher education institution located in a developed region of India. The objective of the study is to identify the major funding sources of a private aided college and exploring the possibility of other innovative sources of funding. The equity implications of such financing method is examined which has got policy concerns. The methodology of the study is mixed method approach using both quantitative and qualitative data for analysis. Four types of instruments are developed to collect data from college administration, accounts section, students and teachers. Interview schedules and focused group discussions were also undertaken for the study. Keywords