Student Demographics and Perceptions of the Cost-Sharing Program for Financing Higher Education in Tanzania and Their Relationship to Perceived Likelihood of Student Loans Repayment

Problem and Purpose All over the world, the costs of higher education are becoming unaffordable for people of low and middle socio-economic status. The rising costs of colleges and universities are outpacing any growth in incomes and the price increases of other indispensable needs such as medical care, food, clothing and housing. Tanzania is facing the same problem. Because the country has very low gross enrollment rate (GER) even in comparison to other African countries, the government has established the cost-sharing program to increase students’ access to higher educational institutions and enrollment. Therefore, the purpose of this research is to explore the student perceptions of the cost sharing program for financing higher education in Tanzania and whether selected demographics such as age, gender, socio-economic status, and high school academic achievement, as well as student perceptions of the cost-sharing program are statistically significant predictors of the likelihood of student loan repayment. Research Design A quantitative research method was used to survey students from five universities in Tanzania; namely: Muzumbe University, Saint Augustine University of Tanzania, the University of Arusha, the University of Dar es Salaam, and Zanzibar University. A sample of 500 students was chosen randomly from these universities, but only 495 students gave responses good enough for analysis. Quantitative research is useful for quantifying opinions, attitudes, and behaviors and thus can be used to explore how the entire population feels about a certain issue. Because the study was so deeply rooted in numbers and statistics, quantitative research was suitable due to its ability to be effective in translating data into easily quantified charts and graphs. Participants indicated their perceptions of the cost-sharing program for financing higher education in Tanzania. Descriptive analysis was used to determine frequencies, standard deviations, and means of variables. The categorical regression model was employed to determine the influence of the selected demographical variables on the perceived likelihood of student loan repayment. Finally, a multiple regression model was used to determine the influence of the selected student perceptions on the perceived likelihood of student loan repayment. Results Students’ awareness of student loans and eligibility criteria of the Higher Education Student Loans Board of Tanzania (HESLB) of student loan disbursement were statically significant predictors of the perceived likelihood of student loan repayment at 0.047 and 0.001, respectively. Implications One of the implications of this study is that if the HESLB works effectively according to its vision, mission, and core values, beneficiaries will honor its integrity and repay student loans. Conclusion Overall, this study suggests that higher education can be one of the essential key factors benefiting economic growth in Tanzania. The results of this study are in harmony with the idea of establishing public universities in Africa, which were regarded as ontologically embedded for developing countries in the continent. In addition, awareness of student loans and eligibility criteria of the HESLB for student loans disbursement are statistically significant predictors of the perceived likelihood of student loan repayment. There is a need for conducting further research employing mixed methods to provide a richer context for interpreting the feelings of students about the cost-sharing program for financing higher education in Tanzania and to improve the applications of the current research