Dollar Charges Only For Foreign Students — NUC Clarifies Varsity Fee Controversy

The National Universities Commission (NUC) has said no tertiary institution operating in Nigeria is allowed to charge tuition fees in dollars.

The Acting Executive Secretary of NUC, Chris Maiyaki, stated this at a media parley with education reporters in Abuja on Thursday.

He was reacting to a statement by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, (EFCC) inviting proprietors of some private universities and institutions of higher learning in Nigeria who were allegedly charging fees in dollars.

He said: “On the dollarisation of tuition fees in this said university, we have investigated it and the university is not charging fees in dollars. They only charge dollars to foreign students. So, I want the media to join hands with us to tell the public that no Nigerian university is allowed to charge fees in dollars.”

The executive secretary also said the commission would continue to approve more universities as long as they meet standards and have the capacity for sustainability.

He announced that the commission would issue licenses to two universities by next week to add to the existing 270 in the country.

According to him, it would give room for access to tertiary education and stem the tide of Nigerians going outside the country to study.

“Due to the huge gap in demand and supply of university education, the National Universities Commission will continue to give approval for the establishment of more universities,” he said.

He added that the commission would continue to process applications for Distance Learning Centres across the country to give room for education access.

He said the agency has reconstituted Committee on Degree Mills to mitigate against the upsurge in the proliferation of unapproved degree-awarding institutions.

“To mitigate against the upsurge in the proliferation of unapproved degree-awarding institutions, the reconstituted Committee on Degree Mills had been working against their proliferations, with hope to fight and win the growing incidence that had continued to give an unsavoury image to the system, among others,” he added.