By Opeyemi Adelakun
Nigeria’s tertiary education system left more than 700,000 approved admission spaces unused in 2025, despite the large number of young Nigerians seeking places in higher institutions, a new policy report has revealed.
The report, released by the iRead To Live Initiative, showed that 1,009,736 of the 1,716,154 admission spaces approved across tertiary institutions were occupied during the 2025 admission cycle, leaving 706,418 vacancies.
The figures translate to an overall utilisation rate of 58.8 per cent, but the disparity between universities and other tertiary institutions was significant.
Universities recorded a 74 per cent utilisation rate, with 785,180 of their 1,060,919 approved spaces filled, leaving 275,739 vacant.
In contrast, polytechnics, colleges of education and other tertiary institutions collectively filled only 34.3 per cent of their approved admission spaces.
The findings were contained in a report titled “The Admissions Gap: Who Gets into Nigeria’s Tertiary Institutions, and Why It Matters.”
The report argued that the figures challenged the widely held belief that Nigeria’s admission crisis was mainly the result of a shortage of institutional capacity.
It stated, “All institutions: 58.8 per cent; universities only: 74 per cent; other institutions: 34.3 per cent. 1,009,736 of 1,716,154 approved places were filled nationally in 2025, leaving 706,418 unfilled. Polytechnics and colleges of education filled only about a third of their approved places.”
It further noted, “Within degree-awarding universities specifically, the fill rate was considerably higher: 785,180 of 1,060,919 approved places filled, with 275,739 left empty. Put simply, Nigeria’s tertiary institutions did not run out of room in 2025.”
According to the initiative, the substantial number of unused spaces indicated that the country’s access problem was more complicated than the number of available seats.
It said the situation reflected a structural mismatch between where admission spaces existed and the courses, institutions, locations and entry requirements that applicants preferred or could realistically access.
The group therefore called for more detailed data from the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board to establish why some institutions and regions attract far fewer candidates despite having approved capacity.
It urged JAMB to release privacy-protected admission and performance data broken down by state, local government area, geopolitical zone, gender, subject and institution.
The initiative said, “JAMB already collects most of this information to administer registration and admissions, and publishing it responsibly would let government, universities, and independent researchers see where access gaps are concentrated.”
It also demanded greater transparency in the determination of the national UTME cut-off mark, urging JAMB to publish the evidence and methodology behind the decision.
“The evidence behind that collective decision should be public,” the report stated.
The group said greater transparency would help Nigerians understand how admission policies are formulated and how national priorities, including the promotion of science, technology, engineering and mathematics programmes, influence admission decisions.
It further recommended that JAMB produce an annual Admissions and Access Report after every admission cycle.
According to the initiative, the report should reconcile applicant-level admission information with institutional capacity and provide consistent year-on-year figures to prevent conflicting interpretations of admission trends.
It stated, “JAMB should publish this report after each admission cycle, reconciling applicant-level admission data with capacity-utilisation data and presenting consistent year-on-year tables, so the same cycle is not read two different ways depending on which JAMB dataset a reader consults.”
The report also raised concerns over the proposed Bring Your Own Device model for computer-based testing, recommending controlled pilot programmes and independent assessments of its security and fairness before nationwide implementation.
It stressed that the policy should not create another barrier for candidates who cannot afford or access suitable personal devices.
Beyond the proposed device-based testing model, the initiative called for expanded access to CBT facilities across the six geopolitical zones and a free preparation programme that candidates could use regardless of their location or financial circumstances.
It cautioned that participation in such a preparation programme must not become a condition for registration.
The group said, “Completion of that module should never become a barrier to registration for candidates who cannot easily reach it.”
The recommendations come as the new JAMB Registrar, Prof. Segun Aina, begins his tenure ahead of preparations for the 2027 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination.
The report acknowledged that ongoing reforms in admissions processing and computer-based testing could provide a platform for improving transparency and access.
It also noted that 2,243,816 candidates registered for the 2026 UTME, although the 2026 admission cycle had not been concluded when the report was published.
The initiative said the latest figures reinforced the need for policymakers to look beyond the number of applicants and examine how existing admission capacity is distributed, accessed and utilised across Nigeria’s different categories of tertiary institutions.
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