For the fifth year running, the University of Ilorin ranked as Nigeria’s most preferred university by admission seekers in the country, data published by the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board, JAMB, has shown.
This year, the university had 78,466, which is about 6 per cent of 2021 admission seekers, jostling for admission into it, according to JAMB.
This perhaps explains why the university prides itself as “the university of first choice,” and the continuous preference of the university may not be unconnected to the school’s relatively stable academic calendar over the years as the school’s staff did not embark on strike for years unlike other public Nigerian universities.
However, that streak may be on the line now. Last March, after about two decades, the UNILORIN academic staff joined their colleagues in the Academic Staff of Nigerian Universities (ASUU) in an industrial action that lasted months.
Most preferred universities
From last year’s admission record released by JAMB, as of August, only 19 per cent (13,634, the highest number of admission by any institution in the country in 2020) of applicants to UNILORIN had gained admission.
With 59,190 applicants, University of Lagos recorded the second highest admission request this year. This is a move by one place from third in last year’s admission request, even though this year, fewer number of students sought admission from the school.
The 2020 admission record showed that UNILAG admitted 7,815, some 17 per cent of its admission seekers, as of August.
The University of Benin, with 49,763, placed third with 49,361 admission seekers. Save 2020, this means UNIBEN has maintained third place since 2017. As of August, from last year, about a quarter of its admission seekers had been offered admission.
The University of Nigeria had 47,239 applicants last year. The Federal University, Oye-Ekiti had 45,920 applicants, the first time it would record such demand and the first time it would break into the top ten most sought-after universities in four years. The university was established in 2011.
Ahmadu Bello University slipped from second place, for the first time in four years, with 44,509 applicants, about half of the admission seekers last year.
Bayero University had 44,352 applicants; Nnamdi Azikiwe University, 43,542; Obafemi Awolowo University, 42,614; and for the fifth year running, the University of Jos placed tenth most preferred university in the country with 38,309 applicants.
2020 applications to admission rate
The data released by JAMB showed that 2,110,815 students (including 171,660 direct entry (DE) students) applied for tertiary education into 962 institutions in 2020.
Of them, 1,112,057 had five O’level credits (including mathematics and English) and, for non-DE students, scored 140+ in the UTME.
As of August, 551,553 of the students had gained admission, which is nearly half of those with the least prerequisite for a tertiary institution admission. The figure also represents 26 per cent, or about three in ten, JAMB admission rate.
In 2019, about two-thirds of the about two million admission seekers were not admitted, JAMB’s data showed.
But ten universities accounted for about one-fifth of all the admissions last year, analysis by this paper showed. In 2019, the top ten admitting universities accounted for one-sixth of admissions in the year.ⓘ
University of Ilorin led the list of schools with 13,634 students admitted. It was followed by the University of Benin (UNIBEN) with 12,336 admission figures. The University of Maiduguri (UNIMAID) admitted 11,416 students.
The trio were trailed by the University of Calabar (UNICAL), 10,888; Nnamdi Azikiwe University (NAU), 10,736; the University of Port Harcourt (UNIPORT), 9,509; the University of Uyo (UNIUYO), 8,502; Federal University Oye-Ekiti (FUOYE), 8,110; Ekiti State University (EKSU), 8,088; and University of Lagos (UNILAG), 7,815.
Most preferred Colleges of Education
With 2,318, Kaduna State College of Education had the most applicants seeking entry into it
Breaking out of first place for the first time in four years, Federal College of Education, Zaria, had 2,213 applicants. The Federal College of Education, Kano had 1,037 applicants.
The College of Education, Waka-Biu, broke into the top ten most-coveted colleges of education with 915.
The Federal College of Education (Tech.), Gombe had 797 applicants; the College of Education, Akwanga, 685; Sa’adatu Rimi College of Education, Kano State, 649; the FCT College of Education, 598; the Federal College of Education (Tech.), Potiskum, 522; the Federal College of Education, Katsina, 498.
Most preferred Polytechnics and Monotechnics
The Kaduna Polytechnic, Kaduna, recorded 3,277 applicants, while Kwara State Polytechnic had 3,237.
Likewise, the Federal Polytechnic, Ilaro, had 3,140; Yaba College Of Technology, 2,794; the Federal Polytechnic, Offa, 2,628.
For the first time in four years, four institutions broke into the top ten most preferred polytechnics this year.ⓘ
They include Lagos State Polytechnic, Ikorodu, which had 1,695 applicants; the Federal Polytechnic, Nasarawa, 1,662; School of Nursing and Midwifery, Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University, Bauchi, 1,271; the Federal Polytechnic, Ado-Ekiti, 1,213.
Placing ninth with 1,250 applicants, The Polytechnic, Ibadan, completes the the top ten ranked polytechnics most preferred by the nation’s admission seekers.
