By Mariam Abeeb
The National Universities Commission (NUC) has reviewed upward application fees for the establishment of private universities in the country.
The Commission made this known in a statement made available to newsmen in Abuja by its Executive Secretary, Prof. Abdullahi Ribadu.
Ribadu said the fee for purchase of application forms for the establishment of a private university is now reviewed from N1,000,000.00 to N5,000,000.00.
Also, he said the processing fee for application for the establishment of a private university is reviewed fromvN5,000,000.00 to N25,000,000.00
Ribadu said this decision was necessary to ensure that newly established private universities were positioned to meet the challenges of the 21 Century.
He added that it was also aimed at repositioning Private Universities 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).
“Pursuant to the above and in line with the directive of the Honourable Minister of Education, the NUC hereby informs Promoters of proposed Private Universities in particular and the general public as follows:
“The Commission hereby suspends further processing of all inactive applications including those of private open universities.
” That is those that have not made progress on their applications or made submissions to the Commission for upwards of two years.
“And also those applications at the stage of submission of Letters of Intent only.
“The NUC will convey the reviewed processing fee of 25,000,000.00 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,” he added.
The executive secretary added that the Commission had imposed a Moratorium for a period of one year with effect from Monday, Feb. 10, 2025 on inactive applications for the establishment of new private universities.
He explained that this was to enable the Commission to conduct a comprehensive review of such pending applications with a view to determining their viability.
Accordingly, he said a Moratorium had also been imposed on applications on Step 1 of the 14-Step Procedure (i.e. those that have submitted Letters of Intent only.
He added that this also included
acceptance of fresh applications for the establishment of private universities, including private open universities.
He said the Commission is in the process of reviewing other aspects of the guidelines for the establishment of private universities to ensure that the proposed Universities, when licensed, are positioned to meet the challenges of the 21 Century.
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