A Proposed Model for Financing Higher Education in Palestine From the Point of View of P.L. Representatives

Statement of the problem The purpose of this study was to develop a proposed model for financing higher education in the Palestinian universities with domains of financing sources that would have indicators from the point of view of the P.L.C representatives. Methodology The population of the study consisted of all P.L.C members (88) of whom (21) ministers, who were ranked according to the variable of functional position. In an attempt to fulfil the purposes or the study , the researcher produced a questionnaire of (101) items looking into different sources of .... financing , distributed at (7) broad domains using Likert Scale of five options to estimate the degree of the subjects' responses. To make sure of the validity of the instrument of the study, it was judged by a jury of (13) specialists from An-Najah National University, Bir Zeit University and Al-Quds University. To examine the reliability of the questionnaire items, the Cronbach's Formula was used. The results were quite sufficient to fulfil the purposes of the study. So as to answer the questions of the study , the means , percentages and standard deviations of each item and each domain were computed and analyzed using the SPSS . The items which obtained (4) or more degrees with a percentage of (80%) were adopted as main sources for developing the proposed model of financing higher education in Palestine. Findings The results of the study were as follows: 1) The total degree of response on the entire domains was (3.69) . The domain of Fees and Tuitions as well as the domain of Local community Contributions as sources of financing obtained the highest degrees which ranged from (:300/0--82.6%) . Meanwhile, the other domains obtained a less higher degree of responses which ranged from (66.20/0--74.8%). 2) The descending order of the domains of the sources of financing higher education was as follows: University Fees and Tuitions (82.6%) , Local Community Contributions (80%) , Minimum or Economical Expenditure on University Education (74.8%) , University's Self-Production (73%) , Direct Governmental Sources (71.80/0) , Indirect Governmental Sources (67.60/0) , and Loans as sources of financing (66.2%) . 3) The degree of the population's responses with regard to the variable of the functional position for the domains of University's Self- Production and Minimum Expenditure on University Education was in favour of the P.N.A ministers, whereas the degree of the population's responses for the rest of domains was in favor of P.L.C representatives. Recommendations In the light of the results of the study, the researcher offered the following recommendations and suggestions to be taken into account by those in charge of the Palestinian Legislative Council , the Ministry of Higher Education and chancellors and Trustee's Councils of universities: i) to launch the necessary legislations to implement the suggested model for financing higher education using alternative sources such as the university's self-production and -the economical expenditure on university education. ii) to demand that students pay full tuitions provided that they are granted governmental loans repayable in a specific period of time with an administrative commission of 3% for those interested. This can be done by establishing a governmental fund that grants loans' for university students. iii) to adopt a model that encourages cooperation-among universities, P.N.A ministers and other public organizations in order to make use of investing the material and human potentials instead of merely depending on costly foreign experiences, iv) to steer the direct governmental support to be spent on research under the administration of the Ministry of Higher Education. v) to conduct further comparative studies on the experiences of Arab and foreign universities in financing higher education. vi) and to conduct another study on the effect of the change in governmental policies concerning direct financing for higher education on the performance of universities and their programs.