GTEC directs UG to immediately reverse academic fee increment

The Ghana Tertiary Education Commission has directed the University of Ghana to immediately reverse recent academic fee increases imposed without the required statutory approvals.

In a letter dated January 5, 2026, and addressed to the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ghana, GTEC said it had been informed that the university increased fees by about 25 percent and, in some cases, introduced new charges without clearance from the relevant authorities as mandated by law.

“Informed by this, the Ghana Tertiary Education Commission, by this letter, requests the University of Ghana to do the following,” the letter stated, before outlining a series of corrective measures the university is expected to implement without delay.

GTEC directed the university to reverse all fee increases and dues immediately and to credit continuing students who have already paid amounts above last academic year’s fees in the next academic year.

For final-year students who have overpaid, the commission ordered that the excess amounts be refunded.

The commission further instructed the university to revert all dues, including SRC and GRASSAG charges, to last academic year’s approved rates. It also ordered the suspension of any newly introduced fees, including the 75th Anniversary dues and the Development Levy, where applicable, unless such charges were already in existence.

Even in those cases, GTEC said the amounts must be pegged to last academic year’s levels.

“You are hereby requested to provide GTEC with evidence of compliance not later than January 12, 2026,” the letter warned. “Failure will result in the Commission instituting serious regulatory sanctions against the University of Ghana.”

The directive follows weeks of student agitation over new and increased fees. Media reports indicate that first-year students in the College of Humanities face academic fee increases of about 34 percent, while continuing students are paying roughly 27 percent more.

Earlier, the University of Ghana Students’ Representative Council attempted to justify some of the third-party fee adjustments. In a December 16, 2025 statement, the SRC attributed the changes to administrative errors, rising utility costs, and the need to finance a proposed hostel project.

On the Telegel data charge, the SRC admitted that a ₵312 fee applied to some students was an error. “This is an error which the Finance Directorate is working tirelessly to rectify as soon as possible,” the council said, explaining that affected students should either pay ₵122.64 for the year or nothing if they opted out.

UGSRC President Larbi Ofori Richmond defended an additional ₵200 levy for a planned SRC hostel, arguing that it reflects long-term planning. “There has been the need to increase the hostel levy so as to meet rising cost of construction materials,” he said, adding that the facility is expected to accommodate about 15,000 students at affordable rates.

Despite these explanations, GTEC’s intervention now places the responsibility squarely on the university’s management to roll back the increments and regularise all fees in line with the law.