Financial sustainability strategies at church-related higher education institutions in post-conflict Liberia

As Liberia recoups from 14-years (1989-2003) of civil conflict, and as tuition and donations become insufficient to operate Church-related higher education institutions in post-conflict Liberia, leaders are being challenged to develop alternative financial sustainability strategies because the Government of Liberia is currently unable to continue the subsidies it provided prior to the civil conflict In addition, the number of learners has escalated and the institutions do not have a significant endowment fund or have no endowment fund at all. The purpose of this research was to examine the financial sustainability strategies of these institutions in order to understand why they would be forced to shut down without tuition and donations. In order do this, this qualitative research with phenomenological approach utilized purposive sampling to identify 11 participants who have experienced the phenomenon. Using face-to-face interview as the primary instrument, the researcher interviewed University Presidents, Vice Presidents, Comptrollers, Special Assistants to the presidents, and financial officers representing four of the five institutions of similar context. Additionally, direct observation and documentary review were used to validate the data. After the data were analyzed, 5 themes emerged. The findings revealed that these institutions exclusively depend on tuition and donations, without which it would be forced to shut down. In addition, tuition and donations are not enough to operate these institutions. The research suggests alternative financial sustainability strategies need to be employed to ensure long-term financial sustainability during unanticipated financial crises.;Keywords: financial sustainability strategies, higher education, Liberia, CRHEIs, tuition and donations, dependency.