February 11, 2025
Citing the need for better regulation and alignment with modern educational demands, the National Universities Commission, NUC, has reviewed upward the application fees for establishing private universities by over 400 percent.
NUC Executive Secretary, Abdullahi Ribadu, in a statement on Monday, announced the revised charges, raised the cost of purchasing an application form from ₦1 million to ₦5 million, the processing fee was also raised from ₦5 million to ₦25 million.
Consequently, applicants who have bought the form at the previous rate of ₦1 million but have not yet paid the processing fee must now, within 30 working days, comply with the new ₦25 million charge or risk forfeiting their applications.
A one-year moratorium, effective from February 10, 2025, was also declared by the NUC on inactive applications and fresh submissions for private universities, including private open universities.
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Ribadu said, “The Commission hereby imposes a moratorium for a period of one year on inactive applications for the establishment of new private universities to enable a comprehensive review of such pending applications.”
He added that applications that have remained stagnant for over two years, as well as those that have only submitted letters of intent under Step 1 of the 14-step approval process, are affected by the suspension.
“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.”
