Written by Samuel Sejjaaka

Abstract: This paper reviews the issues that have led to a dearth of poor funding of public universities. The changing economic landscape, structural adjustment and growing demand have all contributed to making public funding more and more inadequate. There are currently 7 public universities and a host of private Universities/institutions purporting to provide some form of tertiary education. I posit that the proliferation of ‘universities’ is a symptom of a flawed educational policy that presupposes that supply will create its own demand. Further, it is obvious the rush to seek higher education has led to a failure in delivering quality and maintaining a research agenda in public universities. The fact is that university education should not be taken as a privilege. It is however too late for public universities to remain the ivory towers they used to be. They must become businesslike and debureaucratize. They must become socially relevant development partners, creating and inventing products that improve their communities. They must rationalize their wage bills and create endowments that make them sustainable businesses.