Harnessing private monies to fuel university growth : a case study of Makerere University

This article illuminates the impact of marketization of higher education at Makerere University. Based on extensive interviews conducted in 2003, the article argues that it did affect academic life: academics complained about increased workload and stress, there was increased competition between high and low-revenue-earning faculties and conflict between faculties and central management. It argues that Makerere University is a much more dynamic place today than it was in the 1980s and early 1990s - enrolments are high, new programmes have been introduced, support from foreign funding agencies is high, faculty compensation is higher. But market values permeate all levels of university activities, and the roles and mission of a public university are being undermined. None of this augurs well for a public good construction of higher education.