A Nigerian private institution, Baze University, Abuja, has increased fees payable by students, citing an ‘astronomical rise’ in the cost of goods and services.
The increments include a 100 per cent rise in hostel fees, a
35 per cent increase in tuition, and Students’ Industrial Working Experience
Scheme (SIWES) as well as a 25 per cent increase in laundry charges.
The university’s Deputy Registrar and Acting Dean of
Students, Kehinde Adekeye, communicated the increase to students in an internal
memo, a copy of which this newspaper saw.
Mr Adekeye said the new increment is effective from May.
“I am directed to inform you that after careful
consideration and assessment of various factors such as the astronomical rise
in the cost of goods and services, provision of competitive salaries and
benefits, compliance efforts with government regulations and accreditation
standards, and general economic downturns, the university management has
decided to implement the following fees adjustments as approved by the
University Governing Council, effective May 2024,” part of Mr Adekeye’s memo to
students reads.
Previous fee schedule
Before this increment, students paid between N800,000 and
N1.2 million for hostel fees for a session, according to a payment schedule
seen by this newspaper. This has now been increased by 100 per cent, according
to the memo.
The tuition before the latest increment is about N3 million
per academic session, while medical students pay as high as N5 million from the
second year through the fourth year. In the fifth year, according to the
previous payment schedule, medical students pay N9 million per academic
session. The tuition has now been increased by 35 per cent, according to the
new memo.
Tertiary institutions and fee hike
This is the latest in the wave of fee increments started by
public universities last year when more than a dozen public universities
increased fees payable by students even though the Nigerian government
maintains that the public institutions run by the federal government remain
tuition-free.
Just like Baze University, the management of the public
universities said the increments were necessitated by the increase in the cost
of maintaining the institutions’ facilities.
The student loan promised by President Bola Tinubu has
consistently failed to take off despite multiple promises.
Shortly after assuming office last year, Mr Tinubu signed
the Higher Education Access Act, which institutionalised an Education Bank to
provide student loans for Nigerian students who cannot afford tuition.
However, the government has missed three take-off dates for
the student loan initiative in less than a year.
The bill was recently sent back to the National Assembly for
repealed, and a fresh one already passed but is yet to be assented to by the
President.