Funding
The allocation of annual operating Government grants for Higher Education Institutions is administered and monitored by the Institutional Funding section of the HEC Secretariat.
Under the Higher Education Act (2008), registered HEIs may be considered for the grant. The grant for eligible HEIs is derived using the Funding Model (‘the Model’). The goal of the Model is to bring about reasonable equity that will lead to better employment outcomes for graduates of higher education institutions.
At the national level, the Government support of Higher Education through the grant is an investment in meeting the future economic needs of Fiji by contributing towards building the nation’s human capital and upskilling of its people. At an institutional level, the grant supports the HEIs’ efforts to improve programme delivery, learner achievement, and institutional quality.
For 2021-2022, the Government has invested $70,914,238 in HEIs which will be managed by the HEC. This is distributed as follows:
| Higher Education Institution | 2021-2022 Budget Allocation ($) |
|---|---|
| Corpus Christi Teachers College (CCTC) | 94,236 |
| Fiji National University (FNU) | 44,357,182 |
| Fulton Adventist University College (FAUC) | 103,918 |
| Montfort Boys’ Town (MBT) | 492,212 |
| Montfort Technical Institute (MTI) | 338,912 |
| Sangam Institute of Technology (SIT) | 114,411 |
| Vivekananda Technical College (VTC) | 128,196 |
| The University of Fiji (UniFiji) | 2,304,774 |
| The University of the South Pacific (USP) | 22,980,397 |
| Total | 70,914,238 |
With the grants allocated to HEIs, the HEC also plays an active role in monitoring the utilisation of the Government grant to ensure accountability of public funds. To do this, the HEC uses the Grant Management System; a tool developed to track, monitor, and report on both financial and programme output areas. Grants from the government are operational in nature, and HEIs utilise the grant in the areas of teaching and learning, research, or enhancing performance and equity, or it may be used as a base grant to support a HEIs operations. All grants for Capital Expenditure is managed by the Ministry of Economy.