Abstract:

The study investigated the financial sustainability of the public federal higher educational institutions in Nigeria.  The population of the study comprised twenty-five (25) Public higher educational institutions from four (4) geo-political zones and Abuja.  Secondary data were sourced from Annual General Warrant from the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation and Audited Financial Statements of the Public Sector Entities. Data obtained were analyzed using Balanced Score Card techniques.  The results showed that more than 92% of the sampled public higher educational institutions in Nigeria only attained a basic standard of sustainability test where the ratios of their Internally Generated Revenue to recurrent expenditure is between (40 – 60)%  or 0.04 and 0.6 showing the ability of the institutions to generate sufficient revenue independently to cover only the operational expenses in the short-run.  Also, the results equally showed that only 8% of the population attained an intermediate standard of sustainability whereby the ratio of Internally Generated Revenue to Recurrent expenditure is between (60 – 90%) or 0.6 and 0.9, indicating that 92% of the institutions heavily depended on central authority funding for their survival. The results further revealed that none of the higher educational institutions attained an advance standard of sustainability, that is, showing zero reliance on external funding. In conclusion, public higher educational institutions in Nigeria are financially dependent on central authority for survival. Therefore, the central authorities should roll out blueprints that will make the public higher educational institutions widen their internally generated revenue capacity and reduce the reliance on central authority funding for sustenance