Private Students Scheme: Makerere University

The dwindling funding for Tertiary Education in Sub-Saharan Africa has reached crisis proportions .The challenge is for institutions to formulate alternative sources of income so as to reduce their almost complete reliance on state funding. Makere University's successful Private Students Scheme implemented is an example of one such creative partial solution.M. K. Mayanja wrote:
"...Makerere University formulated its first strategic plan (1996-–2000) to promote this new entrepreneurial approach and adjust its administrative design to enhance the innovative process. The admission of private students, which started in a tentative way, was followed by initiatives such as the introduction of the semester system and an updated curriculum to make courses more marketable. Other changes included the decentralization of authority—including the area of finance...The private students scheme has regenerated Makerere University in record time about 10 years. In order for this process to continue, the university should move quickly to implement the new Universities and Tertiary Education Act, which enhances its autonomy and puts it in control of its own affairs. Furthermore, the university as a whole and the schools, institutes, colleges need to become more cost conscious and adopt a business planning approach in course design and determining fees...",Boston College.