By Anita John 
LAGOS | OCT 29 – The University of Lagos (UNILAG) has denied increasing tuition fees for new and returning undergraduate students, saying it only integrated all dues previously paid at faculty and departmental levels into the main payment portal, in line with the directive of the Nigeria Education Loan Fund (NELFUND).
The clarification follows Edubase Nigeria’s exclusive report that the university had raised tuition from ₦190,250 to ₦407,500 for students in science and medical-related courses for the 2025/2026 academic session.
The university’s Head of Communication Unit, Adejoke Alaga-Ibraheem, explained that the adjustment was made “in the best interest of students” and followed NELFUND’s directive that all student charges be consolidated on a single platform.
With the new arrangement, UNILAG said all charges previously paid separately would now be covered under NELFUND for students who apply for the government-backed interest-free loan.
“The new integration will eliminate other forms of payment outside the central system,” Alaga-Ibraheem said, adding that “amounts reflected on the portals differ across programmes based on specific academic requirements.”
A discrepancy
However, Edubase Nigeria, a 100% education-focused news platform, found discrepancies in the university’s explanation, as some dues and levies have reportedly increased by as much as 650%.
For instance, returning students in the 2024/2025 academic session paid ₦2,000 for departmental and faculty dues, but the same category of students is now billed ₦15,000 in the newly updated fees for 2025/2026.
Checks also revealed the introduction of new charges, including an entrepreneurship fee (₦5,000), portal maintenance (₦15,000), and insurance policy (₦1,250).
Other newly listed charges include ₦1,250 for support services, ₦7,500 for professional services, and ₦5,000 for General Studies (GST) fees. All these levies have been questioned by the students of the institution.
While the university maintains that there is no fee hike, many students have taken to social media to criticise the management, describing the move as a “disguised increment.”
Wider concern
Earlier this month, NELFUND warned public tertiary institutions against hiking tuition fees, calling the trend a financial burden on both students and the Fund, especially as some universities increased charges by over 900%, assuming the loan scheme would cover all costs, The GuardianNG detailed reports reveal.
Among those institutions are the University of Ilesa (UNILESA) in Osun State, Ekiti State University (EKSU), Ado-Ekiti, and Edo State University, which all reviewed fees for medicine and law programmes.
UNILESA raised its Nursing fee from ₦825,000 to ₦1.276 million, and Law from ₦1.276 million to ₦1.526 million. EKSU increased Medicine and Surgery from ₦797,000 to ₦1.132 million, while Edo State University reviewed its Medicine fee from ₦3.250 million to ₦4.250 million.
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Editorial Staff