CHALLENGES FACING HIGHER EDUCATION STUDENTS’ LOANS BOARD IN LOAN RECOVERY: THE CASE OF SELECTED UNIVERSITIES IN TANZANIA

Abstract

The importance of Higher Education has been increasing since the beginning of the 21stcentury and it is believed that individuals’ access to higher education will enrich their lives and status, and improve national economy. This has forced many governments in the world to establish students’ loan schemes to support the needy and qualified individuals so as to widen their access to tertiary education. Despite the benefits of students’ loan scheme, low loan recovery has been found to be one of the challenges impeding these schemes.Thus, the main objective of the present study is to explore the challenges facing Higher Education Students’ Loans Board (HESLB) in loan recovery to the selected three higher learning institutions in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania. The study employed a qualitative exploratory research design, drawing from twenty nine (29) in-depth interviews. Purposive sampling technique was used to draw five (5) members of the management team of HESLB, College of Business Education (CBE), Dar Es Salaam Institute of Technology (DIT), and Institute of Finance and Management (IFM). Similarly, twenty four (24) loan beneficiaries were drawn randomly from the respective organizations.