Four Ways Students Get Admission to Nigerian Universities

Hundred of thousand of students apply for admission to various universities in Nigeria annually. With increase in the number of the institutions (privates' and publics') more students are able to get admission to study the courses of their choice.

But getting admission to one of more than 150 universities in the country take a different form and they are more competitive than one another simply because some of the admission system are more expensive for candidates from poor or medium income families to explore.

This page analysis four different ways students have been gaining admission into all of the universities in Nigeria.

Note: for any student to be eligible to sought for an admission into any of the Nigerian universities, he  must be able to present one of the following examination results:

West Africa Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) result or

General Certificate Examination (GCE) result or

Senior School Certificate Examination (SSCE/NECO).

In-Direct Entry Admission

Getting an admission into a Nigerian university by indirect entry system means writing a Joint Admission Matriculation Board (JAMB) coordinated exam known as Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) or by a pre-degree programme.

After a student must have complete his O/L programme, he must sit for and pass a JAMB exams which is done once every year after which he must also sit for and pass the post UTME exam and make cut off mark for his chosen degree programme.

Post UTME is conducted by individual university in Nigeria.

Pre- Degree Admission

If for any reason a student is unable to get admission through UTME , he may opt to go through pre-degree programme at the university of his choice.

By pre-degree, a student would have to enrol for one year study programme at the university of his choice after which he will write an exam which if he passed would eligible him to be considered for admission. Pre-degree programme is solely the business of each university and it is not available for all degree courses. It is part of university continue education system.

UTME and Pre-degree admission systems qualify students to start their programmes from 100 level.

Direct Entry Admission

An applicant with a qualification higher than ordinary level certificate may seek for a Direct Entry Admission into any of the Nigerian universities if he has other conditions fulfilled.

Holders of General Certifiate Examination, advance level (GCE A/L), National Diploma (ND) certificate, Higher National Diploma (HND) certificate and National Certificate of Education (NCE) and other recognised higher institution of learning certificate can apply for admission into any universities of their choice using this system.

If the application is successful they will be admitted into 200 level or 300 level depending on the type of a certificate presented.

Joint Universities Preliminary Examination Board (JUPEB)

This programme is like advance level GCE. But while the former is done outside the wall of a university the latter is on the campus. Each participating university run tutorial for the  programme following standard curriculum. The duration of the programme is one year after which a common and standard examination, coordinated by JUPEB will be written by students. Successful candidates will thereafter to be admitted to 200 level of their respective choosen courses by JAMB on the recommendation of the participating universities.

Pre- Degree and JUPEB admission system are the most expensive. The monetary value of each programmes per year cannot be quoted here because it changes every year and it vary from one university to the others.

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