Private Universities

The problem focus of this study is two-fold: the rising need for university education and strategies for promoting demand for private universities in Nigeria. The study aimed at contributing to educational policies and manpower development in Nigeria, with special emphasis on strategies for promoting the administration and demand for private universities. The methodology is purely that of the survey design, requiring administration of research questionnaire and drawing inferences based on responses to the relevant research questions. The process involved a survey of selected representative private universities in the Western part of Nigeria as such universities appear more prevalent in this geographical area than other areas in Nigeria. A survey of literature on the promotion of private universities worldwide was also found necessary. With appropriate statistics and analytical tools, the study found as follows: first, the need for product, promotion, pricing and planning strategies for effective administration and promotion of private universities in Nigeria; second, the need to build public trust in the operation of private universities in Nigeria; third, the most important factor responsible for recent emphasis on the establishment of private universities in Nigeria is the efficacy of free market mechanism in the allocation of resources, as well as cultural change concerning pedagogy and the desire to apply modern teaching techniques; fourth is the existence of unique promotional problems requiring unique solutions in private universities in general; and, fifth, the fact that the problem of matching theory with practice in Nigeria arise from lip-service attention paid to programmes’ needs assessment. Based on these findings, the study recommends as follows: a service/product strategy that stresses stakeholders’ needs; a promotion strategy that involves persuasion and influence; and, a pricing strategy involving price limits and planned price variations.

Bello University, Zaria, the University of Maiduguri, and the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN) singly have nearly as many students as 30 private universities put together during the first decade of private universities. One major implication therefore is that public policy interventions by the federal government should favour the establishment of new public universities as well as expand access in existing federal universities. We are glad to observe that this particular recommendation which we first made in January 2010, has been implemented by the federal government through the establishment of 12 new federal universities in states which hitherto had no federal university. The NOUN should now be the major area of attention and intervention in this regard given its prevailing and encouraging absorptive capacity of over 180,000 students as at 2013 (Tenebe, 2013). Lastly, we recall that table 8 also reveals that some first generation federal universities (for example, University of Ibadan, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, and University of Lagos) have lower enrollment figures compared to their second generation counterparts such as University of Maiduguri, University of Jos, and Bayero University Kano. The cause of this anomaly should be identified by the NUC and dealt with, as there are many high level scholars in such first generation universities.

The higher education fraternity has undergone tremendous transformation in the recent past. Key among them is the enactment of Universities Act No. 42 of 2012 which commenced on 12th December 2012.This brought the establishment, governance and administration of universities under same legal framework. This caused repealing of Acts of Parliament for seven (7) universities which operated under individual Acts. The new law also caused 15 public university constituent colleges operating under Legal Orders to be upgraded to fully-fledged public universities, giving rise to a total of 22 public universities. Another nine (9) public university constituent colleges established in 2011 by a Legal Order under the then Universities’ Act (Cap210b of 1986) after requisite verification of academic resources by the Commission for University Education.Currently there are 17 chartered private universities, five private constituent colleges, and 12 private universities operating under Letters of Interim Authority awaiting award of charter by CUE.

The second objective of the study was to determine the effect of cash policies on financial performance of private universities in Kenya. The study revealed that cash policies enable proper cash management and guarantee safe custody of financial documentations. The findings were in line with the study of Attom (2014) on the cash management practices employed by micro and small enterprise where the scholar posit that cash policies enhance prudent and efficient cash management practices. The study realized that the respondents were undecided on the ability of cash policy to ensure security of funds, financial controls being followed and enabling tracking of funds. The findings differed with Attom (2014) who posit that cash controls guarantee security of funds and enhance tracking of funds. The findings further indicated that there exist a strong positive correlation between cash policies and financial performance and that 43.1% of financial performance in private universities can be explained by effective cash policies. The findings are in line with Ewa and Udoayang (2012) and Wanja (2011) who observed that existence of defined cash policies in a firm deters commission of fraud and enhance smooth operations hence good financial performance.

The goals of organizations, despite maximization of profits should be directed at satisfying customers, particularly with respect to societal values, purposeful and strategic business gains. Previous studies have been on enhancing the financial gains without adequate prospects for corporations’ responsiveness to their operational environment and customers. However, there are no substantial empirical studies on the influence of organizations corporate exercises, perceptions, and responsibility to those of customers’ satisfactions, principally when considered in the context of Private Universities (PUs). In this paper therefore, the effects of organization’s corporate social responsibility (CSR) on customer perspective (CP) was investigated with respect to Yemen’s PUs and Higher Education Institutions. A structured questionnaire using Partial Least Square-Structural Equation Modeling methodology was used for data collection; respondents were top-management staffs from these organizations. Results revealed that CSR has a positive influence on the Customer Perception of Yemen’s PUs. This study therefore justified the support and contribution to the dearth of knowledge on the impacts of CSR on organisational CP.

There are two main categories of higher education institutions in Malaysia: public and private institutions (Lembaga Akreditasi Negara, 2006). Public higher education institutions comprise of universities, community colleges, polytechnics and branch community colleges; whereas, private higher education institutions consist of universities, university-colleges, foreign university branch campuses and colleges. All public higher education institutions are under the purview of the government through the Universities and Universities-Colleges Act 1971 and technical education governed by the Education Act 1996 (Lembaga Akreditasi Negara, 2006) and hence, fully funded by the Malaysian government. On the other hand, private education institutions did not receive any financial support from the Malaysian government (Lembaga Akreditasi Negara, 2006). From 1996 to 2010, there was a rapid growth in the number of private higher education institutions in Malaysia. Currently there are more than 400 private higher education institutions that comprises of 21 private universities, 20 private university-colleges, 5 foreign universities branch campuses and nearly 400 private colleges (MOHE, 2010).

The study of (Al-Zwyalif, 2012) titled: The possibility of Implementing Balanced Scorecard in Jordanian Private Universities, aimed to identify the awareness degree of presidents of private Jordanian universities regarding the importance of applying Balanced Scorecard in addition to identifying the universities' ability to apply it through studying the provision of basic elements needed for application. To achieve the study's objective, the researches designed a questionnaire for this purpose and distributed to a sample of (151) individuals, Faculty deans, Heads of academic departments, financial directors and directors of different departments in private Jordanian universities. (130) of the questionnaires were considered valid for analysis. One of the most prominent results is that presidents of private Jordanian universities are aware of the importance of applying Balanced Scorecard in performance evaluation process. The provision of financial resources and qualified human resources are considered basic requirements for the application of Balanced Scorecard with its diverse perspectives. The researcher made recommendations about the importance of applying Balanced Scorecard in these universities and the promoting the awareness of universities presidents about the importance of actual initiating of applying Balanced Scorecard.

Kenya has attached education to economic and social development since 1963 (Sifuna D. , 1998). Higher Education in Kenya has gone through a trajectory dating back in 1922 when the then Makerere College in Uganda was established as a small technical college which was then expanded to meet the needs of the three East African countries; that is, Kenya, Uganda and Tanganyika and Zanzibar, as well as Zambia and Malawi (Olel, 2011). In the 1940s and early 50s it is only this college that was providing university education in East Africa. This lasted until 1956 when the Royal Technical College was established in Nairobi. In 1963, the Royal Technical College became the University College, Nairobi, following the establishment of the University of East Africa with three constituent colleges in Nairobi, Dar es Salaam and Kampala (Makerere). The University of East Africa offered programmes and degrees of the University of London till 1966. In 1970, the University of East Africa was dissolved to create three autonomous universities of Nairobi, Dar es Salaam and Makerere. The University of Nairobi was thus established as the first university in Kenya (Mutula, 2002; Nyaigotti, 2004; Odhiambo, 2011; Sifuna D. , 2010). Four decades later, there are a total of seventy public and private universities (CUE, 2016). Private Higher Education in Kenya can also be traced to the colonial period when missionaries established Schools and colleges for their converts. The first private institution was St. Paul‟s United Theological College (1955) and Scott Theological College (1962). In 1970, United States International University (USIU) opened a campus in Nairobi. However, these early universities offered degrees in the name of parent universities abroad (Onsongo, 2007). Currently there are eighteen chartered private universities, five private constituent colleges and fourteen private universities operating with a letter of Interim Authority (Commission for University Education, 2016).

of changing environment alongside with advanced technology, teaching professionals experienced great pressure to stay abreast with new knowledge and skills or to undertake new tasks (Smylie, 1999). When academics do not experience a sense of well-bring at work and feel lack of competencies, this may lead to academics experiencing high levels of stress (Trent, 1997) or even leaving the teaching profession (Macdonald, 1999). Burnout has a detrimental effect on individuals and the level of burnout is very likely to impact the quality of services (Maslach & Goldberg, 1998; Maslach & Leiter, 1997). Therefore, the intention of this study is to examine the demographic background of academics in private universities in Malaysia with burnout characteristics. The secondary objective of this study was to examine whether the distribution of the total quality of working life score is significantly different among academics with and without burnout characteristics.

The purpose of this study is to establish the effects of entrepreneurial capability (unbundled as market orientation, entrepreneurial orientation, marketing capability, and competitive orientation) on private universities performance in Kenya. It seeks to understand how private universities in Kenya adopt entrepreneurial capability as a strategy to assist them maintain good performance. The unit of analysis of the study are the private universities within Nairobi County. The study used a survey design. The quantitative data was collected from a sample size of 329 respondents stratified into the academic and non-academic staff. Structural Equation Model (SEM) was used to test the model. The analysis of the relationship between entrepreneurial capability and university performance revealed β = .92 and R = .84. The findings indicate that entrepreneurial capability significantly affects the performance of the private university positively. This study has practical implications for the theoretical advancement of university entrepreneurial capability. Additionally, the outcomes of the study provide insights into universities’ management on the strategic choices they can make to enhance their performance in the fast changing environment.

Abstract. This paper concentrates on universities strategies for admitting students and the rate at which private sector universities expand in today’s higher educational setups. This paper answers the following question: to what extend are the public universities different from the private universities? In an attempt to find the answers, the whole study is developed towards students’ perception of the universities positioning in terms of what they are offering to the customers, through what they prompt people to apply for admission? Therefore, this paper looks at the prevailing admission strategies and potential students’ entry requirements at both public and private universities to determine the theoretical systems that are used by these universities in competition for customers (students). A quantitative survey of students in both public and private universities in Ghana was undergone In all, a total number of 255 questionnaires were printed. Only 187 were answered and returned out of 200 distributed questionnaires to the public sector universities whereas 55 questionnaires were distributed to the private sector students and 51 were answered and returned. This research was based on sampling data collection methods. The findings show that there are three categories of univer- sities such as Publicly/Fully Independent Chartered Universities, Privately Owned Universi- ties and Personal/Sole Proprietorship University Colleges. All these affect students’ choices for admission application. The findings clearly indicate that both public and private universities purposes are related using Pearson’s Product Moment Correlation Coefficient formulae to that of the sole proprietorship colleges. Also, the admission requirement strategies differ be- tween public and private universities.

committed as compared to public university teachers. Another study was conducted with 104 respondents (Temesgen, 2017) and the descriptive analysis shows that public university teachers are dissatisfied as the working conditions are neither safe nor healthy. Thus, private universities provide a safe and healthy working condition along with the adequate opportunity of growth, but heavy work pressure too lies with the employees. Public universities have however doesn’t have a healthy working condition but there is less work pressure. Hence, public universities despite having less work pressure provide less opportunity for improvement in the overall performance of the organization while a private university teacher enhances their performance. Thus working conditions influence the performance level of public and private universities (Afsar, 2015; Daud et al., 2015;). (Shoghi & Safieepoor, 2013) showed that organizational structure is an important factor which influences the accomplishment of organizational goals and objective along with balancing organizational efficiency and effectiveness. Thus, it serves as a mediating factor between OC and organization processes and performance. The author analyzed the cross-sectional data of 145 academic staff (Mugizi et al., 2019) and revealed that the formalization in private university helps in the management of performance of an individual teacher along with providing the opportunity of promotion and involvement in decision-making. However, centralization and complexity in the system hamper the efficiency, which is usually the case with public universities. Further, an analysis based on 365 participants (Razia, 2015) of the public and private university via hierarchal regression analysis reveals that more formalization and communication

Today, lecturers work in a dynamic and super-complex world where the diversity of students’ motivation and cultural and educational background makes teaching more demanding in terms of the preparation of learning material, motivation strategies and assessment (McLean 2006, 36). With many changes taking place in the learning environment, Pollard (2010, 5) asserts that lecturers are expected to possess a full repertoire of pedagogic options in order to create high- achieving environments for the maximum number of diverse learners. Similarly, lecturers in private universities encounter large classes filled with students of various abilities and with different expectations. This means that lecturers cannot evade their responsibilities as educators, hence the need for continual professional development, which involves learning to teach in both formal and informal settings.

Staff participation in the Decision-making process is equally important in ensuring quality in universities since it enhances initiatives, corporation and team spirit among the staff. Several studies (Abdulai & Shafiwu 2014; Sukrino & Siengthai, 2015; Owino, Ogachi & Olel, 2011; Muindi, 2011; Kok, Lebusa & Joubert 2014), have revealed a significant positive relationship between employee participation in decision making and their zeal to implement plans. Sukrino and Siengthai (2015) for example established that lecturers who participate in decisions that affect them readily implement programs that they have helped to design. Sukrino and Siengthai (2015) established that teachers tended to show enthusiasm, devotion, ingenuity and high morale when they participate in decision-making processes. Similarly, Abdulai and Shafiwu (2014) established that when employees participate in decision making in the various forms, decision implementation becomes easy, a good working environment is created, commitment and satisfaction on decisions taken increases, and also employees morale increase since the employees feel recognized and as part of the team in the organization. In the end, direct consequence of all this is improved productivity. Muindi (2011) likewise established that participation in decision making increased harmony among staff in the school, improved staff morale and creates a sense of ownership. Owino Ogachi and Olel, (2011) observed that low level of participation in decision making was one cause of reduced employee work performance with regard to efficiency and effectiveness. The study however focused more on governance issues than teaching and research. However some other studies have shown lack of consistent and conclusive evidence about the impact of participative decision making on teaching performance in higher education (Sukirno & Singethai 2015; Miller, 1996). Therefore it does not necessarily mean that improved staff participation automatically translates into improved performance. Although all these studies emphasise the importance of staff participation, no such a study has been carried out in private universities in Uganda.

An exploratory survey was conducted to analyze the consumers’ evaluation of private higher education sectors in Bangladesh with particular reference to the quality as well as the cost of education. The sample was taken on a random basis from about ten private universities in Dhaka metropolitan area. The respondents (students) were asked to evaluate the quality and the cost of education at private universities in Bangladesh. Respondents ranked the attributes on a number of itemized seven-point scale ratings bounded at each end by one of two bipolar adjectives. The result of this study shows that faculty credentials, academic calendar, campus facility, research facility and cost of education are associated with quality education and that the consumers feel most of the private universities in Bangladesh provide quality education at reasonable costs.

Only significant variables are shown in the table, along with their respective regression coefficients (βs) and computed students’ t statistics and their respective significance levels. The results of the regression analyses revealed that out of six control variables, five—faculty credentials (FC), academic calendar (AC), campus facilities (CF), research facilities (RF) and cost of education (COE) had statistically significant effects on the rating of attitudes towards the educational quality of the concerned universities of this study. These results are also consistent with the results found in the factor analyses, because the findings also showed that factors such as FC and CF exhibit the highest significance levels that equivalently correspond to the factor analysis results. Thus, in order to enrich quality education in the private universities of Bangladesh, all five of these variables need to be considered.

The rapid increase in Nigeria population contributes to high rate of private participation in educational sector of the country especially in tertiary education (universities to be precise). This participation increases condition of competition in the sector every year where strong focus on performance measurement is required. Many literatures had been reviewed on performance measurement and appraisal together with tools used such as ratio analysis etc. It was discovered that major performance measurement tools in organizations have been the implementation of ratio analysis; Strength, Weakness, Opportunity and Threat (SWOT) analysis; value chain and so on. Implementation and suitability of Balanced Scorecard (BSC) technique as a performance management tool in private universities in Nigeria have not been examined (Amponsah & Onuoha, 2013)

The establishment of Private Higher Educational Institutions Act 1996, Act 555 “Prior approval of the Minister shall be obtained for the establishment of a private higher educational institution with the status of a University or University College or a branch campus thereof or a branch campus of a foreign University or University College” many private higher education institution existed in Malaysia but only after the announcement of Private Higher Educational Institutions Bill, National Council on Higher Education Bill and National Accreditation Board Bill by Malaysian Government whereby the PHEIs can confer their own degree, the education industry in Malaysia has grown rapidly since then (Ministry of Education (MOE), 2015). In early 2017, there were 73 private universities (inclusive the branch campus), 37 private university-colleges and 382 private colleges in Malaysia registered under the Malaysian Qualifications Register (MQA, 2017). All these private higher education institutions offer varies degrees from certificates to postgraduate degrees.

This study will include a qualitative analysis and investigate the ICT usage and appropriation level, with a special concern on LMS [17]. 34 semi-structured interviews with the deans, head of departments and programs directors belonging to four (4) private higher education institutions, implemented in the widest emirates (the most populated agglomerations in the UAE): Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah and Ajman. The choice of the sample components is guided by the researcher determination to enrich the research community and make it reflect as much as possible the real state of all the private universities in the Emirates [18].

The findings of this research would serve as a basis for further studies of job satisfaction of faculty in any private or public university of Bangladesh. Policy makers in the universities could find benefit for their improvement in quality education. This study only concentrated on the perceptions of one group; i.e. private universities’’ faculty and concentrated in only Dhanmondi area. Further research can be administrated on this issue for all public and private universities’ are available around the country. Probably, only then the overall expectations of universities’ faculty can be portrayed and based on that findings, university can take proper steps for the betterment of the country. Also, a comparison between private and public Universities faculty’s job satisfaction can enhance our quality education in the country.