PRIVATE universities in the country are progressively falling out of favour with admission seekers, going by reports released earlier this year by the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB).
Available reports from the Board show that for the past two years, increasing number of admission seekers have been showing preference for public universities, while applications to private universities dwindle.
JAMB’s Statistics of Choice Institutions (a document prepared yearly by the Board to track the trend of admission requests into institutions) on the 2014 and 2015 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) consistently show that private universities – with very few exceptions – have been experiencing sharp drop in the number of candidates that apply to them.
With the exception of Landmark University, Omu-Aran, Kwara State (to which admission requests rose marginally from 220 in 2014 to 249 in 2015); Elizade University, Ilara-Mokin, Ondo State (from 39 to 46); Obong University, Obong Ntak (4 to 16), McCPherson University, Seriki Sotayo, Ogun State (22 to 29); Pan-Atlantic University, Ibeju-Lekki, Lagos State (59 in 2014 to 65 this year), Gregory University, Uturu, Abia State (21 to 24) and SouthWestern University, Okun-Owa, Ogun State (4 to 6), all other private universities experienced sharp decline in their admission requests.
For many of these institutions, the decrease in admission requests by candidates is more than 50 per cent, while for some, it is even worse.
Renaissance University, Ojiagu-Agbani, Enugu, is one of the heaviest losers in this respect, as admission requests to it dropped from 28 in 2014 to eight this year. Kwararafa University, Wukari, declined from 31 admission requests in 2014 to only five in 2015.
Madonna University, Okija, fared slightly better, but only 686 candidates sought admission there this year, compared to 1,021 in 2014. In the same category are Evangel University, Akaeze, Ebonyi State, which admission requests dropped to 14 this year from 39 in 2014 (more than 50 per cent decline).
Even Redeemer’s University, Ede, Osun State, did not fare much better, as admission requests dropped to 197 in 2015 from 349 last year. Only 73 candidates showed interest in seeking admission to Lead City University, Ibadan in 2015, a drop of almost 50 per cent from the 120 that applied to it last year.
Similarly, Novena University, Ogume, received 78 admission requests in 2015 compared to 112 last year, while Oduduwa University, Ipetumodu, Osun State, dropped to 132 from 143 in 2014.
According to the report, admission seekers also showed considerable level of apathy towards the three private universities in the South-West that traditionally receive the highest requests – Covenant University, Ota, Ogun State; Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti State, and Babcock University, Ilishan-Remo, Ogun State.
This year, perhaps for the third consecutive time, Coventant University got the highest admission requests among the private universities, receiving a total of 3,042 requests; but even this figure represents a decline from the 3,315 that applied to it last year.
Babcock University received the second highest admission requests this year (also second last year); but the 2,101 candidates that applied to the university this year represents a marginal decline from the 2,139 of 2014.
Afe Babalola University’s 1,386 admission requests this year also represents a decline from the 1,588 that applied to it last year. Igbinedion University, Okada, Edo State, got 426 admission requests this year as against 658 in 2014; Bells University of Technology, Ota, Ogun State, got 173 requests in 2015 (as against 232 last year), while Bowen University, Iwo, Osun State, also dropped to 570 from 787 in 2014.
Applications to Benson Idahosa University, Benin City, Edo State, dropped from 474 in 2014 to 342 this year; Bingham University, Karu (from 441 last year to 331 in 2015); Crawford University, Igbesa, Ogun State (75 in 2014 to 57 in 2015), and American University of Nigeria, Yola, Adamawa State (from 280 in 2014 to 198 in 2015).
Fewer candidates also sought admission in Crescent University, Abeokuta this year (76 in 2015 compared to 83 in 2014); Caritas University, Amorji-Nike, Enugu got 135 applications this year (compared to232 last year, while Al-Kikmah could only receive 266 admission requests this year, a marginal decrease from the 360 in 2014.
Baze University, Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, got 376 admission requests this year (as against 479 last year); Godfrey Okoye University, Urgwuomu-Nike, received 104 applications this year (four fewer than it did in 2014).
All other private universities received less than 100 admission requests each this year.
Only 47 candidates showed interests in Caleb University this year (against 88 in 2014); Samuel Adegboyega University, Ogwa, Edo State got only 14 admission requests in 2014, but it’s even worse this year, as only 10 candidates applied to it this year.
Rhema University, Obeama, Rivers State, also got only 11 applications last year, and this dropped even further to 10 this year. Salem University, Lokoja, Kogi State, received 84 applications last year, but managed only to get 48 in 2015. Ajayi Crowther University, Oyo, received 83 requests in 2014 but only 57 applied to it this year.
Veritas University, Abuja, got 87 applications last year, but it dropped to 67 this year; Tansian Universty, Oba, Anambra State, got 69 admission requests in 2014 but only 52 applied to it this year. Joseph Ayo Babalola University, Ikeji-Arakeji, dropped from 95 applications in 2014 to 79 this year; Fountain University, Osogbo dropped from 62 in 2014 to 42 this year.
Applications to Adeleke University, Ede, Osun State, dropped from 111 in 2014 to 84 in 2015; Achievers University, Owo, Ondo State, (57 applications in 2014 to 33 this year); and Paul University, Awka, Anambra State (from 25 in 2014 to 17 in 2015).
Tribune Education recalls that the new admission policy by the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board, which precipitated a lot of controversy in the past three weeks, was an attempt by the Board to assist some universities that traditionally receive few admission requests every year, by ‘bouncing off’ qualified candidates to them from over-subscribed universities. Private universities generally form the bulk of those under-subscribed universities.
According to available statistics, admission requests to these private institutions have been declining steadily in the past two to three years, and there are ample indications that the trend may get even worse next year.
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