In the period between 1970 and the end of 1980, enrollment in universities in Ghana remained at a constant level. The country is now poised for expansion due to reforms that are currently taking place. Faced with limited resources, the country is having to deal with how to finance the expansion without necessarily increasing public funding.
The question that faces policy makers is who should bear financial responsibility for expanding university education in Ghana: the taxpayer or students and their parents. Is university education expected to be a mechanism for distributing social benefits and privileges and therefore expected to be accessible to as many interested students as possible? In the discussion of these issues, there has been a gap in the information regarding the financial contribution that students and their parents make towards their education. This study provides information to fill that gap.
For this study, a survey was carried out in 1993 involving 1,114 university students from three Ghanaian universities. The research also involved collecting data from the institutions on enrollment, income and expenditures. It is the first such comprehensive survey of university students in Ghana. The thesis provides information on students' socio-economic backgrounds, their educational costs and sources of income.
There were interesting results from a multiple regression analysis of students' attitudes to borrowing and the total cost of education and the amount of support they received from others. The study also examined institutional costs in the universities. It discussed costs per student for each institution, expenditures of the institutions by function, and differences in expenditure among faculties.
Some of the policy implications that arose from the study related to the issue of whether or not to introduce tuition fees and how such a policy could be introduced in the Ghanaian situation. It showed the need for a review of the current system of financing students and the level of loan support to students. Finally, the study made suggestions for an alternative system of providing financing for students in the universities in Ghana.
