HIGHER EDUCATION FUNDING AND COST-SHARING: CASE STUDY OF UNIVERSITIES IN NIGERIA

This paper focuses on fresh (undergraduate) students’ contribution to higher education funding and cost-sharing that threatens to undermine the system of higher education in Nigeria, with profound consequences for all Nigerians. This is one of the adverse effects of the autonomy given to higher education management team. This shift that has occurred in Nigeria over the past decade has led to dramatic cuts in federal and state support for higher education. This cut, combined with rising costs of running the schools, has led to huge tuition increases for students. These skyrocketing costs have reduced access to our universities. University education is now in favour of the rich. The design used for the study is a random sampling technique. There are 78 federal and state universities in Nigeria. The population for the study consisted of fourteen (14) Universities, selected from the six (6) geo-political zones in Nigeria. Data were collected through the universities e-portal data base. Majority of Nigerians are living on less than N160 ($1) a day. This depicts how the majority are both in well-being and with regards to their access to quality education. We conclude by recommend cost effective strategies that will guarantee wider access to education.