Research. Policy. Reform. Producing independent, evidence-based research to advance equity, accountability, and student success in Nigeria’s higher education system.
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UTME applications per year (millions), against available admission spaces.
Source: JAMB annual registration statistics · iRead To Live analysis.
Fewer than 700,000 admitted each year from nearly two million qualified applicants.
Read more →The annual Student Welfare Index for Nigerian Universities.
Read more →Independent scrutiny of NELFUND’s reach and equity record.
Read more →The Nigeria Graduate Outcomes Survey and career services standards.
Read more →This policy brief evaluates NELFUND across four dimensions, access, recovery, financing, and governance against the 2024 Act itself. It also examines evidence from NELFUND’s record, compares the scheme with five international systems, and outlines what Nigeria must do to make it genuinely self-sustaining rather than a fourth failed attempt.
Nigerian universities answer to the National Universities Commission and, for professional programmes, to a second statutory council. This explainer sets out where that oversight overlaps, what the overlap costs and what coordinated regulation would require.
JAMB has run foreign UTME centres since at least 2013 without publishing how many candidates use them, what they cost or what they achieve. Before the Ottawa centre opens, it should publish the evidence.
Watch the full iRead Initiative and BudgIT policy conversation on NELFUND’s financial sustainability, financing, loan recovery, and governance.
Our researchers write for and are cited by Nigeria’s leading newsrooms.
A Nigerian higher education system in which every student who qualifies for university admission can access it, afford it, thrive within it, and graduate into meaningful economic opportunity.
Selected policy announcements, regulations, guidelines and funding decisions from Nigeria's higher education agencies, each linked to its primary source. Coverage and review dates are shown with the table.
| Date | Institution | Action / Policy | Status | Description | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 26 Sep 2026 | NUC official website (opens in a new tab) | NUC Board Chairman proposes framework to harmonise university regulators | Announced | At Osun State University’s 16th convocation lecture, the NUC Board Chairman called for clear legal boundaries between the NUC and professional councils, harmonised accreditation and a shared regulatory data platform. He also said the NUC will require universities to update institutional data every year. | Source ↗ |
| 30 Aug 2026 | TETFund official website (opens in a new tab) | TETFund opens ₦10bn 2026 NRF grant cycle | Open for applications | The 2026 National Research Fund call supports research across 30 thematic areas. The portal opens on 31 August and closes on 15 October 2026, with lecturers in public tertiary institutions eligible to submit concept notes. | Source ↗ |
| 24 Aug 2026 | JAMB official website (opens in a new tab) | JAMB introduces remote O’Level result verification and upload | Adopted or issued | Candidates can now verify and upload O'Level results remotely. JAMB checks the results directly against issuing examination-body records before adding them to the candidate's profile, reducing manual processing and unnecessary CBT-centre visits. | Source ↗ |
Showing the 3 most recent of 7 records.
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