UNILAG denies raising student fees, attributes changes to NELFund directive

The University of Lagos (UNILAG) says there has been no fresh hike in the fees payable by its undergraduate students.

On Tuesday, UNILAG’s student community raised the alarm about changes in the fees on their portal that suggested an upward review.

In a statement on Wednesday, Adejoke Alaga-Ibraheem, the head of UNILAG’s communication unit, clarified that the change in fee was due to the integration of approved dues that students had previously paid for at the faculty and departmental levels. 

This, she said, is in line with the Nigeria Education Loan Fund (NELFund) directive to institutions to consolidate all charges payable by students on the student portal.  

“This ensures that once students make payment through their official portal, no other payment will be collected at the faculty and departmental levels,” she said.

TheCable reviewed the payment advise from selected undergraduates, a document containing the fees payable by returning students.

While there was no “significant” hike in the fees, some charges were adjusted upwards and new ones were introduced.

In the 2024/2025 academic session, returning students paid N2000 for department and faculty dues, but this has been increased on the portal’s consolidated quote up to N15,000. 

A breakdown of the increase shows that the UNILAG TISHIP moved from N5,000 to N7,500.

The new charges introduced include entrepreneurship (N5000), portal maintenance (N15,000), and student insurance policy (N1,250). 

Others are student support services (N1,250), professional services (N7,500), and general studies (GST) (N5,000).

The university, when confronted with these adjustments, maintained that there was no increase or introduction of new fees.

It noted that the additional fees were being paid by students outside the portal before now. 

“What we have done is in the best interest of the students so that when they apply for NELFund, they get funding that covers every bill that they pay in school through a central system,” Alaga-Ibraheem said.

“This will eliminate other forms of payment outside the central system. 

“It is also important to note that the amounts reflected on the portals differ across programmes based on specific academic requirements.  This does not amount to a fee hike but an integration of previously separate, legitimate dues.”