In this paper, resource dependence theory (RDT) is used to guide an empirical analysis of the higher education system in Uzbekistan. Regression analysis is applied to a panel dataset consisting of 62 Uzbek higher education institutions, covering the period 2000-2013, to examine the determinants of the expenditure decisions made by institutions. The key hypothesis is concerned with the relationship between the share of revenue from tuition fees and the share of expenditure spent on teaching. The analysis attempts to control for unobserved heterogeneity through the inclusion of fixed effects. Instrumental variables estimation is used to address the potential endogeneity of the relationship between these two variables. The main finding is that there is a positive and statistically significant relationship between the share of revenue from tuition fees and the share of expenditure spent on teaching, even after other factors are held constant, which is consistent with a core premise of RDT.