The dilemma of increasing tuition fee in the face of declining enrollment rates at private higher education institutions in Malawi

Abstract

Private higher education institutions (PHEIs) rely on tuition fees to meet their operational costs. This being the case, they tend to be more expensive than public ones that run on state taxes. Interestingly, in spite of the fact that PHEIs are generally expensive, they attract many students. This is the case because PHEIs are perceived to be offering better education system. However, due to inflation and other factors, private universities are forced to increase tuition fees often times. Engagement with key stake holders in the business has shown that each upward adjustment does not only result into the withdrawal of some continuing students, but also makes it difficult to recruit the desired numbers of new students. The purpose of this study was to explore possible interventions to the dilemma. The study has shown that there is correlation between upward adjustment of tuition and decline in student enrollment. This being the case PHEIs should, as much as possible, strive not to be adjusting tuition fees upwards. Instead, they should turn to cost efficiency and expenditure control mechanism as a way of saving money. In addition, PHEIs managers should be creative enough to identify other income generation strategies.