Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU) Press Release on new school fees states that the cost of education has risen worldwide. The management of OAU will therefore increase the school fees (tuition inclusive) that students pay. This has been a rumour for quite a while now. It has finally been confirmed by the management of OAU.
Obafemi Awolowo University New School Fees Regime
The attention of the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife Community has been drawn to the fact that the institution is presently the only Federal university with the lowest student charges in the country and the whole of Africa and efforts to review the charges have been in the pipeline for some time now.
The University therefore considered it imperative to take further action at this point in time if our University must continue to be reckoned with in the committee of great universities in the provision of quality and competitive academic curricula and up-to-date infrastructural facilities with the Senate, at its meeting of Tuesday, 6th May, 2014, considered and approved a new regime of charges for Fresh Students for 2013/2014 academic session.
Indeed, the University Administration did a comparative analysis on the regime of charges in other Federal universities in the country and it was discovered that the charges paid by students in OAU were not only ridiculously low but have become very unsustainable if our University is to survive.
In addition to the foregoing, the following reasons have therefore made it imperative for the new regime of charges to be introduced:
- The cost of education has risen worldwide.
- The overhead cost allocation and subvention received from the Federal Government has dwindled by over 50% compared to what the University received five years ago.
- Despite the decrease in the overhead allocation from the Federal Government, inflation has eaten deep into the meagre allocation to the University and therefore makes the current charges paid by students unsustainable.
- Online registration/verification of student data/information/certificates, which is cost intensive, is being introduced to cut down on the wastage of resources and the time students use to queue endlessly for verification in their different Faculties.
At the three interactive sessions with the student representatives, the students initially insisted that there should be no increase in charges at all, but when they later realized how ludicrous their position was, they eventually pleaded for a reduction in the charges and the University Administration considered the pleas and effected some reductions in the charges.
The University Administration is hereby soliciting the understanding and support of all members of the University Community and other stakeholders as the new regime of charges takes effect.