TITLE:
Financial Resource Management and the Quality of Education in Private Universities in Central Uganda: A Mixed-Methods Investigation
AUTHORS:
Tadeo Winyi, John Paul Kasujja, Esther Namugumya, Viola Babirye
KEYWORDS:
Financial Resource Management, Revenue Streams, Budgeting, Financial Monitoring and Control, Enabling Factors, Quality of Education, Private Universities, Uganda, Mixed Methods
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Access Library Journal,
Vol.13 No.5,
May
29,
2026
ABSTRACT: This study investigated the relationship between financial resource management (FRM) and the quality of education in private universities in Central Uganda, with enabling factors as a mediating variable. The study was anchored in Resource Dependency Theory, Human Capital Theory, and Institutional Theory, and employed an explanatory sequential mixed-methods design. Questionnaires were administered to 319 academic and administrative staff, and semi-structured interviews were conducted with 18 key informants across six private universities. Quantitative data were analysed using SPSS, employing Pearson correlation and multiple regression analysis, while qualitative data were analysed through thematic analysis. The study found a strong positive relationship between revenue streams and educational quality (r = 0.736, p 2 = 0.555), a statistically significant but weak bivariate association between budgeting and quality (r = 0.131, p 2 = 0.585 in regression), and the strongest relationship between financial monitoring and control and quality (r = 0.765, p 2 = 0.567). Enabling factors significantly mediated all three relationships (r = 0.702, p 2 = 0.493). Qualitative findings revealed that tuition over-dependence, weak budget forecasting, and inadequate audit independence were the primary constraints on quality investment, while strategic planning integration and participatory governance were the principal enabling mechanisms. The study proposes a Financial Resource Management (FRM) model as a contribution to theory and institutional practice, and recommends that private universities diversify income streams, institutionalise participatory budgeting, strengthen internal audit independence, and reform governance structures to align financial management with educational mission.