Is Liberia Financially Strong To Give Free College Education?
By Frank Sainworla, Jr., newspublictrust@gmail.com
An audit conducted by the General Auditing Commission (GAC) has uncovered a number of flaw in the implementation of the Liberian government’s tuition-free program, revealing “lack of a written framework to implement” this policy, which costs millions of tax payers’ US dollars annually.
“Lack of a written framework to implement the tuition-free policy
We observed that the National Commission on Higher Education and the Government of Liberia did not formulate any written policy to guide the implementation of the tuition-free policy for public universities and community colleges. Interviews with the management of the National Commission on Higher Education and Presidents of 5 public universities and 4 community colleges informed us that there was no written policy to implement the tuition-free policy after the President’s pronouncement,” says the GAC audit report covering the period July 1, 2018 to December 31, 2025. Audit Reports – gac.gov.lr
The tuition-free program is similar to many of Liberian leaders’ politically-driven public projects that amount to “putting the cart before the horse”, something one political analyst said some time ago. The local political analyst was referring to the public declaration of Zekepa in the northeaster Nimba County as Liberia’s future capital city under the first Unity Party government. In the absence of a blueprint or written plan, a big pronouncement and ceremony was held in that very rural town that lacked even basic road leading to and from Zekepa.
Like the Zekepa future capital scenario, the tuition-free program for the University of Liberia and all public universities and colleges was announced by Liberia’s international football icon-turned politician, George Manneh Weah shortly after taking office in late 2018, after he and his CDC party won a big victory in the October 2017 elections.
And perhaps to be politically correct and not to upset the political advantage of continuing the tuition free program for public university students, Weah’s successor, current President Joseph Nyuma Boakai flowed with the free tuition scheme under his Unity Party “rescue” government.
“The Liberian leader did not say where the money will come from, amidst serious budgetary constraints facing his CDC government.
“The details and modalities will be arranged and finalized between the Administration of the University and the relevant sectoral Ministries of Government,” President Weah said in a speech delivered on the UL Capitol Hill campus on Wednesday” “Tuition-free” education for all undergraduate students in public universities-says Pres. Weah – News Public Trust
In its report, the GAC says the Objective and Scope of the Audit “is to assess the impact of the free tuition policy at public universities and community colleges in Liberia.”
So, one year into the new UP government’s rule, the GAC audit of the program finds “ineffective implementation of Tuition-Free Policy”.
“We observed that not all of the institutions implementing the free tuition policy are coordinating the procedures for its implementation. Students attending public universities and community colleges are still burdened by other fees that are more than the tuition fees that the Government removed in 2018,” the GAC report says.
It adds: “The implementation of the tuition-free policy is ineffective since the government and other stakeholders have not provided the required requirements to keep the program effective.”
Judging by lack of available data, it would seem that both Weah’s CDC and Boakai’s UP governments made the budgetary allotments without knowing the impact and implications of such a scheme, considering the global picture of free tertiary education around the world, even in the great United States—Liberia’s traditional friend.
Even in the United States with the world’s biggest economy, university and colleges students benefit largely from students’ loans, which they’ll have to pay upon graduation when they start working. And there continues to be heated debates in America for and against government college funding.
“Opponents raise concerns about the substantial financial burden on taxpayers. Widespread tuition-free programs would require significant public expenditure, potentially leading to increased taxes. Senator Bernie Sanders’ proposed free college program, for instance, was estimated to cost $47 billion annually. Critics argue this cost could divert funds from other essential public services,” Should the Government Pay for College? – LegalClarity
Similar situation has been observed by the GAC audit on Liberia’s tuition-free program.
“We observed that after the pronouncement of the free tuition policy, the enrolment of students at all public universities and community colleges increased. These institutions were compelled to enrol students without preparation for the campuses. We also observed during our visit to the counties that all of the campuses needed renovation and essential materials in laboratories and libraries. Also, available armchairs could not accommodate the number of students, and teachers had to teach classrooms above 71 students even though the threshold for classes are 45 students per class,” the GAC report says.
Just last week, the President of the state-owned University of Liberia (UL), Dr. Layli Marparyan said on the LUX Radio that the lack of payment of tuition is putting serious financial burden on the university, raising the possibility of a possible increase in fees paid by students in the future. The UL President made a comparative analysis with the cost of college education in Liberia and other countries including the West African state of Ghana.
According to the GAC audit report, the Liberian government “spent US$7.4 million on the payment of tuition fees from December 2018 to December 2023 to public universities and community colleges, including the compensation and goods and services that are funded from the National Budget.”
After the pronouncement of the free tuition policy, the report says, public institutions immediately started the implementation.
However, it says the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning “did not provide funds for tuition fees for the 2018/19 semesters to the various institutions. The Government of Liberia started the payment of tuition fees for the 2019/20 semester year to the Il public institutions.”
The implementing public universities and colleges also have lapses in the manner in which they implement the tuition-free scheme, the audit report notes.
“We conclude that all of the institutions that are implementing the tuition-free policy do not have a coordinated method for its implementation. Students and parents are still paying additional fees charged by administrators, which is causing a financial burden that was eliminated in 2018.”
The National Commission on Higher Education and the Ministry of Education in Liberia have also come under the radar in the GAC report, which observed that they “did not formulate a written framework to guide the implementation of the tuition-free policy of public universities and community colleges.”
As a result of its audit, the GAC has made a number of recommendations regarding the tuition-free policy.
Among other things, the General Auditing Commission is recommending that the Liberian “formulate a written framework to regulate the comprehensive implementation of the provisions of the free tuition policy.”
The GAC is also calling for “Periodic Curriculum Review and Enhancement and Structural Faculty Development- Maximum Fees Structure- determination for maximum fees to be charged at all tertiary institutions.”
In addition to this, the GAC report recommends “standardization for cost of credit hours at all public tertiary institutions to be subsidized by the Government of Liberia.”
Going forward, the big question is can this struggling country of Liberia afford to adequately shoulder tuition-free tertiary education to the growing number of students, while giving limited or no subsidies to the growing number of faith-based and other private universities and colleges around the country? Can’t the government consolidate and financially boost its support for the free and compulsory primary education program in Liberia?
Judging by the latest GAC audit report on the tuition-free policy, some would agree with the need for the current UP government to do a comprehensive assessment of the practicality of effectively implementing the tuition-free policy. Or is this policy contributing to boosting academic quality or pre-occupied with just boosting enrollment in public universities and colleges?
With the GAC out, a comprehensive and decisive review is all the more needed at this time.