The Federal Government has made participation in Nigeria’s national tertiary education ranking exercise compulsory for all universities, polytechnics and colleges of education, expanding the scheme beyond universities alone.
Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa, announced the decision on Tuesday in Abuja during a meeting with the Nigerian Universities Ranking Advisory Committee (NURAC).
The committee has now been expanded and renamed the Nigerian Tertiary Education Ranking Advisory Committee to reflect its broader mandate.
Under the new arrangement, universities, polytechnics and colleges of education will operate under a unified national ranking framework. The Federal Government will fund the exercise through the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund).
Alausa stated that the 2026/2027 ranking exercise for universities would commence in September, while the committee would determine the appropriate timeline for extending the exercise to polytechnics and colleges of education.
He added that the government would develop guidelines to institutionalise the ranking and formally communicate to vice-chancellors and heads of other tertiary institutions that participation is compulsory.
The minister described the policy as part of President Bola Tinubu’s education reforms under the Renewed Hope Agenda, being implemented through the Nigeria Education Sector Renewal Initiative (NESRI). He said the ranking was designed to strengthen quality, accountability, institutional performance and global competitiveness across Nigeria’s tertiary education system.
According to Alausa, the exercise will provide institutions with clear benchmarks for assessing their performance, identifying areas requiring improvement and measuring progress, while also promoting healthy competition among institutions.
He reassured the committee of the ministry’s commitment to providing the policy direction, funding and capacity-building support required to make the ranking credible, sustainable and impactful.
The Special Adviser to the Minister on Media and Communications, Ikharo Attah, confirmed the details in a statement issued in Abuja.
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