The National Universities Commission (NUC) has raised the application fee for establishing private universities in Nigeria by over 400%.
In a statement released on Monday, NUC Executive Secretary Abdullahi Ribadu explained that the fee hike aims to improve coordination and better position newly established private universities to address the challenges of the 21st century.
The NUC has increased the fee for purchasing application forms for the establishment of private universities from N1 million to N5 million. Additionally, the processing fee for the application has been raised from N5 million to N25 million.
The NUC announced that the revised N25 million fee would apply to applicants who have already purchased the application form at the former rate of N1 million but have yet to pay the processing fee. Applicants in this situation must complete their payments within 30 working days, or their pending applications will be forfeited.
The Commission also announced the suspension of all inactive applications, including those from private open universities—institutions that have not made progress or submitted required documents to the Commission for over two years.
A one-year moratorium, effective February 10, 2025, will be imposed on:
“Inactive applications for the establishment of new private universities to enable the Commission to conduct a comprehensive review of such pending applications with a view to determining their viability;
“Applications on Step 1 of the 14-Step Procedure (i.e. those that have submitted Letters of Intent only), and
“Acceptance of fresh applications for the establishment of private universities, including private open universities.
“For the avoidance of doubt, the Commission will continue to process pending active. applications and make appropriate recommendations to the Federal Executive Council for approval.”
Since 1999, the Federal Government has approved the establishment of 149 private universities based on the NUC’s recommendations.
