A Study On Government Funding And College Outcomes Improvements: A Case Of Public Universities In Kenya

Kenya as one of the developing countries in Africa is faced with the problem of financing it's education.Despite the role of the universities in teaching,undertaking research,and training of skilled manpower for economic development,universities in developing countries especially those in Africa are facing financial crisis.Thousands of the youth therefore have their dream talents shuttered due to lack of funding for higher education.The study sets out to reveal the mediating role of students' enrolment on the relationship between government funding and improvements in college outcomes(Graduation Rates and development Index)among public universities in Kenya.The findings from this study contribute to the body of knowledge in the areas of higher education finance,institutional productivity and improvements in college outcomes in terms of Graduation Rates and development Index under the resource dependency paradigm based on the Performance Based Funding(PBF)Theory,the theory posits that changes in resource availability will threaten organizations and encourage adaptation measures necessary to retain or enhance their institution's funding.Institutional Behavioural Theory(IBT)is also a direct manifestations of funding policies and Human Capital(HC)Theory as utility theory.Each of these areas has important theoretical and policy implications.The theoretical implications will be contributions to knowledge while policy implications will be benefits to corporate practice from the results of this research.The specific objectives includes:a)To establish the relationship between government funding and students' enrolment among public universities in Kenya;b)To establish the relationship between government funding and students' graduation rates among public universities in Kenya;c)To establish the relationship between government funding and college development index among public universities in Kenya;d)To determining the relationship between students' enrolment and college development index among public universities in Kenya;e)To determining the moderating affects of students' enrolment on the relationship between government funding and graduation rates among public universities in Kenya;f)To determining the moderating effect of students' enrolment on the relationship between government funding and college development index among public universities in Kenya.The research design involved a cross-sectional survey of the public universities in Kenya,A cross sectional approach enhances the credence of results by providing conclusions on data as at a given point in time.The study also adopted a descriptive approach in trying to establish the moderating effect of students' enrolment on the relationship between government funding and graduation rates among public universities in Kenya.The population of the study in this research were all the public universities in Kenya.According to the Commission for University Education in Kenya,2014,there are a total of twenty two(22)fully fledged public universities in Kenya.Purposive sampling of 94 respondents was carried out.A structured questionnaire was used to collect Primary data.Both primary and secondary data sources were used in the study.To measure reliability,The Alpha(Cronbach)technique was employed.Multiple regression analysis was conducted to establish the hypothesized relationship.The Pearson correlation coefficients were used to show the strength of the linear relationship to help determine whether any of the independent variables in the regression are highly correlated.The research found out that:1.Government funding is positively related to graduation rates in public universities, but it's weak.It was found that 32.7%of the variance in the public university'sstudents' graduation rates is explained by the combined three forms of governmentfunding(scholarship and grants,tuition and other fees paid by students,and grants from foreign governments).2.Government funding is also positively related to college development index in public universities and the relationship is week,too.It was found that 26.4%of the variance in the public university's college development index is explained by the combined two forms of government funding(scholarship and grants and grants from foreign governments).3.The moderator,Enrol*Fees has the highest moderating effect(Beta=2.916)on the relationship between government funding and graduation rates.The form of government funding with the highest moderating effect on the relationship between government funding and the number of students graduated is tuition and other fees paid by students.This can be attributed to the commitment to pay back the loans within certain time periods to avoid penalties.4.There is a negative and weak relationship between student enrolment levels and the public university's college development index.It was found that 1.0%of the variance in the public university's college development index is explained by the student enrolment levels.5.Findings indicate that both government scholarship and grants from foreign governments are positively related to development outcomes especially the student enrolment.It was found out that 81.3%of the variance in the public university's students' enrolment is explained by the combined three forms of government funding(scholarship and grants,tuition and other fees paid by students,and grants from foreign governments).There is a strong positive relationship between government funding and the public university's students' enrolment.6.Government funding and students' enrolment explain 21.1%of the variations in the college development index of public universities.Only one form of government funding plus the moderator Enrol*Fees were included in the model.The moderator, Enrol*Foreign Grants has the highest moderating effect(Beta=0.559)on the relationship between government funding and the college development index.This research further makes several noteworthy contributions to the existing literature especially by employing multivariate analysis techniques to test the hypothesis based on critic of government financial aid which indicated that total fees contribute a very small share of the total education expenditure,the current study includes in the model other forms of government financial aid which are important sources of funding in any publicly funded education system of the world.Other scholars can test the new relationships based on these findings from this study grounded in the economic policy management literature as replicable forms of government funding practically relevant to higher education management.This study has equally provided some level of empirical validity for its theoretical model on the significant relationship between government funding and students' enrolment among public universities in Kenya and validated the understanding that campuses compete in order to receive money from regular state funding allocation to improve campus.This study also made methodological contributions that will help to advance higher education policy management research in the future.By combining multiple regression methods with data were collected through a questionnaire survey in all the campuses.Lastly this study contributes to definition of government financial aid as a formal policy of regular financial support to both private and public university aimed at enhancing college development index and producing graduates who will play a pivotal role in personal and national development.This is based on the relationship modelled of the study.The public universities should continuously monitor the student enrolment levels in relation to the number of students enrolled in order to achieve national development plans and visions on literacy and knowledge based economies;and that firms should focus on what forms of government financial aid can translate to improvements in college outcomes within both the private and public universities.There is empirical evidence that opportunities in the use of different existing forms of non-government financial aid but not fully exploited due to nonexistence of national higher education funding framework to link the use of non-government financial aid and student enrolment that will lead to improvements in college development outcome through efficient and effective utilization of resources to enhance corporate performance.