Private Universities Off Track: When High Fees Don’t Match Academic Substance

 

Private universities in Nigeria have changed the narrative around higher education. They’ve introduced speed, structure, and better learning environments where public institutions often stall. But while some are setting the pace, others are drifting off track - and the students are paying the price.

The Problem: School Fees Without Engagement

The core mandate of any university is threefold: teaching, research, and community service. Yet in some private universities, these functions exist only on paper.

Students pay hundreds of thousands, sometimes millions, per session. Then they sit idle for days with no lectures, no practicals, and little meaningful academic engagement. Laboratories are empty, libraries are under-resourced, and lecturers are either overstretched or unavailable.

In professional courses like Law, Engineering, Medicine, and Accounting, the gap is even more concerning. In some cases, there is little structure for clinicals, moots, workshops, fieldwork, or industry exposure. An idle academic environment does not only waste time; it breeds frustration, weakens competence, and encourages mediocrity. As the saying goes, an idle mind is the devil’s workshop.

The Risk: Accreditation Fraud Entering the Private Space

Nigeria has seen cases in public universities where courses are accredited on paper using borrowed staff, temporary facilities, and equipment that disappears immediately after inspection visits. If this culture spreads into private universities, then high tuition fees become nothing more than organized exploitation.

Parents are paying for an environment that should guarantee quality, competence, and academic growth - not for certificate factories. If a university cannot sustainably staff and equip a programme, it should not be running it.


What Needs to Happen

1. The NUC Must Conduct Targeted Audits

The National Universities Commission must move beyond routine accreditation exercises. Surprise inspections, independent student feedback systems, and proper verification of full-time academic staff are long overdue.

2. Accreditation Should Be Based on Comparative Advantage

Not every university should run every course. Institutions should only receive accreditation for programmes where they possess the infrastructure, manpower, and academic capacity to deliver quality education consistently. The number of courses offered should never replace the quality of delivery.

3. Findings Must Be Published and Sanctions Enforced

Universities found wanting should face real consequences - suspension of programmes, admission restrictions, or, in severe cases, license reviews. Silence protects weak institutions while students and parents bear the consequences.


The Stakes

Nigerians pay premium fees to private universities because they expect premium academic delivery. If those expectations continue to decline, the credibility of private education may eventually collapse into the same distrust that already affects parts of the public education system.

Running a university is not a real estate business. If an institution cannot teach effectively, support research, and contribute meaningfully to society, it has no business operating as a university or collecting tuition fees.

The National Universities Commission still has a window to act before this becomes a wider systemic problem. Students, parents, and the public are watching.


Ambrose Odiase, FIPMA, MANUPA, MAUA (UK)
Founding Editor/Publisher, CampusDialog

Visit CampusDialog Blog for more CampusDialog publications.

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