TITLE:
The Mediating Role of Enabling Factors in Financial Resource Management and Educational Quality: Evidence from Private Universities in Central Uganda
AUTHORS:
Tadeo Winyi, John Paul Kasujja, Esther Namugumya
KEYWORDS:
Financial Resource Management, Quality of Education, Enabling Factors, Governance, Leadership, Mediation, Private Universities, Uganda
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Access Library Journal,
Vol.13 No.5,
May
29,
2026
ABSTRACT: This paper examines the mediating role of enabling factors in the relationship between Financial Resource Management (FRM) and the quality of education in private universities in Central Uganda. Anchored in Institutional Theory and complemented by Resource Dependency Theory and Human Capital Theory, the study adopts an explanatory sequential mixed-methods design, drawing on questionnaire data from 319 academic and administrative staff and semi-structured interviews with 18 key informants across six private universities. The enabling factors examined include strategic planning, governance structures, financial literacy, and leadership commitment. Pearson correlation analysis confirmed a strong positive relationship between enabling factors and educational quality (r = 0.702, p 2 = 0.493). Full mediation analysis further confirmed that enabling factors significantly mediate the relationship between the three FRM dimensions (revenue streams (r = 0.736), budgeting (r = 0.131), and financial monitoring and control (r = 0.765)) and educational quality outcomes as defined by the National Council for Higher Education (NCHE) Quality Assurance Framework. Qualitative findings revealed that strategic planning, participatory budgeting, and governance accountability are the specific mechanisms through which enabling factors convert financial inputs into measurable academic outcomes. The paper argues that the mere availability of financial resources is insufficient for quality education; rather, robust institutional structures and ethical leadership are the indispensable organizational infrastructure that determines whether financial resources achieve their intended educational purpose. Universities are recommended to reform governance structures, integrate strategic planning into the budgeting cycle, and invest systematically in building financial management capacity among academic and administrative leaders.