INSTRUMENT FOR MEANS TESTING FOR EQUITABLE TARGETING OF NEEDY STUDENTS THROUGH AN ONLINE COMPUTER APPLICATION

Abstract

Developing countries have witnessed budgetary constraints and hence they have established some cost recovery measures in higher education which include students’ loans, pay as you eat system among others. However, the cost recovery measures emphasize that deserving students must be protected through provision of loans to finance their studies. The provision of students loans continues to be a challenge world over. Stakeholders have continued to raise concerns over poor targeting of the needy students hence pointing to un-effective means testing tool. There has also been concern that there is delay in the means testing, identification of the needy and disbursement of the funds. The reasons for the delay could be because of the amount of data and paper work involved in the means testing and accurate discrimination of the levels of need and final allocation of funds. Many studies, Odebero, 2008, Odebero, et al, 2007, Odebero 2010 established that HELB loan financing of bursaries and loans to the recipients was inequitable and regressive hence access to university