Abstract
The universities in Pakistan in general and those in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa have
witnessed state defunding of higher education since 2017 as a major problem. Under
this “financial squeeze” the public sector universities in district Swat of Pakistan are
compelled to look out for a workable solution to this problem by exploring avenues
for commercialization through provision of value-added services as aim of the study.
An inductive qualitative research design with a case study methodology of four
public sector universities is used. For this purpose, data was collected from 4-6
participants in each of the four public sector universities. Findings of the study
indicate that despite the “resource dilution” and “program duplication” across
universities in the catchment area of Swat has resulted in strategic changes in
universities which resembles business models of entrepreneurial financial models.
The study recommends in light of findings that universities to cooperate with each
other and solve the “Program Duplication” and “Resource Dilution” issues for wider
public good as. The study tries to contribute by introducing a Value-added
Framework” that could help reconcile “intense revenue generation” with “quality
standards as safeguard for reputational management. The research emphasizes a shift
from state funding dependent universities towards quality-dependent revenue
generati