Operationalising Quality Assurance Processes in Tanzanian Higher Education: Academics’ Perceptions from Selected Private Universities

The purpose of this research was to examine the extent of operationalization of quality assurance processes in Tanzanian Private Universities (PRUs). A descriptive survey design informed by a mixed research approach was employed to guide this research. Purposive and stratified random sampling procedures were employed to select a sample of one hundred and ninety-five (N = 195) participants in the study who comprised of 191 academics, and 4 quality assurance officials from four private universities. Questionnaires and face-to-face interviews were used for data collection. The findings indicated that QA processes such as institutional self-assessment and external examinations were to a large extent conducted by PRUs. Unlike these findings, internal quality audits and tracer studies were not adequately carried out. Conclusively, the non-regular practice of these processes remains the main challenge in most of the surveyed Tanzanian PRUs because they are stipulated in the institutional policy documents without a will to adequately implement them.