Why Private Universities Charge Huge Transcript Fees for Medical Courses

Education advocate and CEO of Educare, Alex Onyia, has shed light on the reason some private universities in Nigeria charge as much as N2 million for transcript processing, particularly for medical-related courses.

Onyia made the clarification in a post shared on his verified X account after widespread reactions from Nigerians over the controversial transcript fees reportedly charged by Maduka University.

According to him, he held an extensive conversation with the founder of Maduka University, Maduka Onyishi, who explained the rationale behind the policy.

Onyia stated that Maduka University and Godfrey Okoye University are currently the only accredited private universities in Enugu State offering Medicine, aside from federal and state-owned institutions.

He explained that gaining admission into federal and state universities to study Medicine is extremely competitive due to high JAMB score requirements and alleged admission irregularities.

According to Onyia, Maduka University is only permitted to admit 50 medical students, unlike many federal universities that can admit up to 250 students into the same programme.

He noted that some students with low JAMB scores reportedly enroll in private universities for one year and later request transcripts in their second year to transfer into federal universities where JAMB scores are no longer considered during the transfer process.

“When they noticed the pattern, they had to introduce a high fee on transcripts to reduce that,” Onyia explained.

He further clarified that the fee policy does not apply to all courses offered by the university but is specifically targeted at Medicine, Nursing, and Pharmacy programmes.

The educationist also pointed out that despite having a smaller admission quota, private universities are still required to employ qualified lecturers and provide facilities and equipment comparable to those in federal universities before receiving accreditation.

According to him, the financial burden of maintaining those standards with a limited number of students significantly affects the institutions.

Onyia added that further findings revealed that several private universities accredited to offer Medicine in Nigeria operate similar policies, with some institutions reportedly charging even higher transcript fees.

He said the policy is largely aimed at discouraging the growing trend of students using private universities as temporary pathways into federal institutions.