The National Universities Commission (NUC) has increased the Processing Fee for Application for the Establishment of a Private University from Five Million (N5,000,000.00) Naira to Twenty-Five Million (N25,000,000.00) Naira.
This is according to a statement signed by the Executive Secretary of NUC and made available to the Press on Monday.
According to the statement, “the Commission, in its efforts at repositioning Private Universities in Nigeria to better meet the needs of the citizenry and for better co-ordination of the development of the Private University Education sub-sector of the Nigerian University System (NUS), has identified the need to review the guidelines for the establishment of private universities.
“This is to ensure that newly established private universities are positioned to meet the challenges of the 21 Century”.
It explained that the NUC was a parastatal under the Federal Ministry of Education charged with the orderly development of University Education in Nigeria.
It added that by virtue of the provisions of the Education (National Minimum Standards and Establishment of Institutions) Act, CAP E3, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004, the Commission is empowered to provide guidelines for the establishment of private universities in Nigeria.
Furthermore, in exercise of its mandates, the Commission had since 1999 recommended and the Federal Government had approved the establishment of 149 private universities in Nigeria to date.
The statement read in part:
“Pursuant to the above and in line with the directive of the Honourable Minister of Education, the National Universities Commission hereby informs Promoters of proposed Private Universities in particular and the general public as follows:
“The Commission hereby suspends further processing of:
a. All inactive applications including those of private open universities (i.e. those that have not made progress on their applications or made submissions to the Commission for upwards of two years), and
b Applications at the stage of submission of Letters of Intent only,
“The Fee for purchase of Application Forms for the Establishment of a Private University is hereby reviewed from One Million (N1,000,000.00) Naira to (Five Million (N5,000,000.00) Naira;
“The Processing Fee for Application for the Establishment of a Private University is hereby reviewed from Five Million (N5,000,000.00) Naira to Twenty-Five Million (N25,000,000.00) Naira;
“The NUC will convey the reviewed Processing Fee of Twenty-Five Million (¥25,000,000.00) Naira to applicants that have purchased Application Forms only. They are also expected to effect payments within a period of thirty (30) working days or risk forfeiture of their pending applications;
“The Commission hereby imposes a Moratorium for a period of one year with effect from Monday, 10th February, 2025 on:
a. 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;
b. Applications on Step 1 of the 14-Step Procedure (i.e. those that have submitted Letters of Intent only), and
C. Acceptance of fresh applications for the establishment of private universities, including private open universities;
“The Commission is in the process of reviewing other aspects of the Guidelines for the Establishment of Private Universities in Nigeria to ensure that the proposed Universities, when licensed, are positioned to meet the challenges of the 21 Century”.
