Successive governments have failed to impose an acceptable rule of law within the country. The lawlessness, corruption, nepotism, and intense intergroup conflict of Pakistani society have become a part of the higher education system as well. This is further exacerbated by the ongoing decline of the economy. The result has been a grossly underfunded public higher education system unable to pay decent salaries, maintain libraries, purchase minimal supplies, or even keep physical facilities from crumbling. Student and faculty morale is extremely low.
Research is practically nonexistent.
Class schedules are frequently not respected, and the academic year is regularly disrupted by myriad political and administrative conflicts. There is a near unanimity among Pakistanis that the nation's public higher education system is a disaster. Nevertheless, the number of young people seeking higher education continues to grow sharply each year, as the return on university studies is still quite high. Six new universities have recently been awarded charters by the Ministry of Education, with another six under review. Bright spots in this booming private sector are institutions such as the Aga Khan University and Hamdard University in Karachi, and the Lahore University of Management Sciences in Lahore.