The management of Ekiti State University, Ado Ekiti, has said that the increase in fees payable by fresh students for the 2024/2025 academic session is based on the need to complement the monthly subvention to the institution by the state government.
The Head, Directorate of Information and Corporate Affairs, Bode Olofinmuagun, said that the increase in the fees to be paid by fresh students was marginal.
Olofinmuagun gave the hint in a statement dated November 24, 2024, made available in Ado Ekiti, the state capital, on Monday.
According to a table made available by the Information Directorate Head, the new fees payable by the fresh students of Ekiti State origin are between N247,500 for the Faculty of Education and N982,500 for the Faculty of Medicine and Surgery while those of non-indigenes are between N307,000 (Education) and N1.13m (Medicine and Surgery).
Olofinmuagun stated that the decision to increase the school fees was “taken to complement the monthly government subvention to the university, which had been reviewed upward by Governor Biodun Oyebanji.
“For clarity, operational costs in the university have increased occasioned by the increase in prices of goods and services by about 200 per cent due to high inflation. Yet, the Governing Council of the university only adjusted the fees payable by freshers, by 50 per cent.
“It is equally important to state that there is a dire need for the university to keep the system running in terms of the provision of quality as well as state-of-the-art facilities to ensure that the university is relevant in the comity of universities across the globe,” he said.
Olofinmuagun, who said that the fees payable by returning students were not affected by the increase, said, “Also, the acceptance fees to be paid by freshers are not affected even when many other universities increased their acceptance fees.
“It is a verifiable fact that EKSU fees are very affordable compared with most state universities and many federal universities, not to talk of fees being charged per term by many private secondary schools across the country.”
He appealed to stakeholders, particularly students to be calm as a result of the issues surrounding the adjustment in fees.
