Financial Strategy and Sustainable Quality Education in Selected Private universities in Ondo State, Nigeria

Abstract

This study investigated the impact of financial strategy on sustainable quality education in selected private universities in Ondo State, Nigeria. A cross-sectional survey design was adopted, targeting 940 employees across four private universities, from which 274 respondents were randomly selected from three universities using the Krejcie and Morgan sample size determination table. Data were collected using a structured questionnaire validated by financial strategy experts and tested for reliability using Cronbach’s alpha (α = 0.814), administered with the assistance of three research aides. Descriptive statistics (mean and standard deviation) addressed the research questions, while multiple linear regression tested the hypotheses. The findings showed that financial planning and education reforms explained only 4.2% of the variance in sustainable quality education, indicating weak explanatory power. Financial planning had a significant positive effect on sustainable quality education (B = 0.201, p = .001 < .05), demonstrating that robust financial planning is a strategic tool for improving educational quality rather than merely an administrative function; thus, hypothesis H01 was rejected. Education reforms did not significantly contribute to the model (B = 0.054, p = .271 > .05), and hypothesis H02 was not rejected. The study highlights the need to align financial strategies with educational reforms and leadership efforts, advocates continuous monitoring and evidence-based policies, and recommends training financial officers beyond budgeting to include strategic resource allocation, risk assessment, and cost–benefit analysis.