Strengthening Higher Education Access in Malawi Activity (SHEAMA) is one of the activities that has been implemented by the Arizona State University as part of the Higher Education (HE) portfolio that sits within the Education Office at USAID/Malawi. The objective of SHEAMA was to increase Malawi’s skilled and employable workforce. The Endline Evaluation of SHEAMA had two objectives namely: to measure SHEAMA’s influence on HE access by disadvantaged groups, HE linkages to industry, quality of HE programming, and sustainability and scalability of HE programs; and to enhance understanding of how different modes of instruction for HE affect accessibility, perceived value/sense of satisfaction, cost, and post-graduation opportunities.

Data for the SHEAMA Endline Evaluation was collected from 5 public universities with SHEAMA-supported programs namely: Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources (LUANAR), Mzuzu University (MZUNI), Malawi University of Science and Technology (MUST), University of Malawi (UNIMA), and Malawi University of Business and Applied Sciences (MUBAS). Both quantitative and qualitative data collection methods were employed for the Evaluation and comprised phone surveys, focus group discussions and key informant interviews. Four stakeholder groups were engaged for purposes of data collection:  Open, Distance and e-Learning (ODeL) and Face-to-Face students and alumni drawn from degree, diploma and short course programs; university staff and faculty; representatives of private sector stakeholders; and Malawi Government officials from the Ministry of Education and the National Council for Higher Education. Evaluation tasks commenced in February 2022 and are expected to be concluded later in 2023.

The SHEAMA Endline Evaluation is a partnership between the University of Notre Dame (UND) and IPOR under Supporting Holistic and Actionable Research in Education (SHARE), a five-year cooperative agreement between USAID and UND being implemented alongside partners in HE with funding from USAID. UND and IPOR jointly designed the Endline Evaluation. UND led on tool design while IPOR led on adapting tools for the Malawi context. IPOR led on obtaining local ethical clearance, recruitment and training of Research Assistants, and data collection and cleaning with UND mentorship and support. UND and IPOR jointly analyzed the data, co-authored the Evaluation Report and jointly presented its key findings to USAID. As the Evaluation is winding down, outstanding activities include incorporation of feedback on the Evaluation Report and presentation of the Report’s key findings to other stakeholders.