FINANCING PUBLIC UNIVERSITIES IN PALESTINE: CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES
The purpose of the study to identify the extent to which the sustainability of sources of financing and to identify the most important challenges facing the financing of the Palestinian public universities as well as to explore potential financing opportunities that can be developed to finance the Palestinian public universities based on the experiences of other universities. The study used the analytical qualitative method, and the study tool is interviews with finance specialists in Palestinian public universities. One of the findings of the study is that students´ tuition fees are the main source of financing for universities, as they constitute approximately 80% of universities´ revenues. The centers and institutes affiliated with the university are considered an important and sustainable source of financing for universities, but they are not used in an optimal way. One of the challenges facing financing is competition between universities instead of integration between them, and from other financing opportunities , are creation of investment units in universities or business development centers in partnership with the private sector .The study recommended the importance of working on finding other sources of financing universities through potential financing opportunities, such as : investment units and business development centers, establishing productive projects in cooperation and partnership with the public and private sectors, restructuring and integrating academic disciplines, and finding new academic disciplines that match with the labor market requirements that attract new students.
Keywords: Financing, University Education Financing, Public University Financing, Higher Education Financing.