HIGHER EDUCATION ACCESSIBILITY AND FINANCIAL SUSTAINABILITY IN GHANA: THE ROLE OF THE STUDENT LOAN SCHEME

Higher education has been recognized as the process leading to the development of human capital which determines the path of economic development. As a result, the financing of higher education has been a national priority in Ghana. For both efficiency and equity reasons, the Student Loan Trust Fund (SLTF) has been introduced as a way of financing higher education in Ghana. In the University for Development studies, it is common to find students unable to register for their academic programmes because of the challenge of meeting their education expenditure. This raises doubt on how students finance their higher education in the presence of SLTF, and hence the need to identify the factors influencing student access to the SLTF. Primary data was gathered from 380 students selected from the three faculties of the Wa Campus of the University for Development Studies. The data was gathered using questionnaire and the results analyzed using Stata version 12. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze the sources of financing higher education and the relative contribution of the SLTF in financing higher education. Besides, predictors of students? access to the SLTF were identified using a probit regression model. The results indicate that 66.8% of the students use their own earnings for financing their education, 91.6% rely on their parents/guardians, 4.7% have access to scholarships and 39.2% use the SLTF in financing their education. This suggests that students use multiple sources of finance in meeting their education expenditures. Besides, the SLTF is often used in financing expenditures on study materials, accommodation and user fees. It was also discovered that 36% of the students rely mainly on SLTF for financing their education, 28% rely mainly on their parents/guardians, 31% rely mainly on their own earnings, and 5% rely mainly on scholarships. The variables with significant influence on access to the SLTF include age, employment, income from own employment, availability of a guarantor, and adequate knowledge in the SLTF. In conclusion, the SLTF has been considered as a sustainable source of financing higher education for those who benefit from it. It is recommended that efforts towards the development of the SLTF should consider the factors influencing students? access to it.