The Impacts of Tuition Fees on Higher Education Accessibility and Equity: The Case of the University of Ghana

The introduction of cost-sharing measures in Ghana’s public universities a decade ago was to be accompanied by the full fee-paying admission option, the so-called dual-track tuition policy. This case study of the University of Ghana examines the policy implementation and how it has influenced higher education (HE) accessibility and equity. Using mainly secondary analysis of official data, the author explores enrolment patterns based on gender and students’ regions of origin, as well as the poverty rates in the regions, to ascertain how the policy guarantees equity of access. An investigation of completion and retention rates follows. Finally, the level of fees, the mode of payment and the financial support available to this category of students is also surveyed. The study revealed that while enrolment of students was fairly balanced with regard to gender, wide disparities exist when viewed from students’ socio-economic backgrounds. Students from regions with high rates of poverty were under-represented. Again, the completion rates for students enrolled as full fee-paying were found to be low. It further came to light that students were required to pay the full tuition fees for the academic year upfront at the beginning of the first semester. As a consequence, the author concludes that the payment of upfront full tuition fees without a corresponding financial support for the fee-paying students at the University of Ghana does harm to HE access, success and equity. In the same vein, the policy also treats some bright students seeking admission on the subsidised slots unfairly through the quota allotted to the fee-paying option, which as the study indicates, was being exceeded. The study therefore recommends an immediate review of the upfront payment of full tuition fees, and an adequate financial support for the fee-paying students from government, while further steps are taken to revise the dual-track tuition policy. Keywords: Cost-sharing, dual-track, upfront tuition fees, access, equity, student suppor