The Ghana Tertiary Education Commission has directed the University of Ghana to immediately roll back all recent fee hikes and additional charges announced for the 2025/2026 academic year, citing breaches of statutory approval processes.
In a formal directive, GTEC stressed that publicly funded universities are not permitted to adjust academic fees or introduce new charges without following laid-down procedures, including securing approval from Parliament as required by law.
As part of the corrective measures, the Commission instructed the university to credit continuing students who have paid amounts above last academic year’s approved fees, with the excess applied to the next academic year. Final-year students who have already overpaid are to be refunded the difference in full.
GTEC further ordered the university to restore all dues, including SRC and GRASSAG charges, to last academic year’s rates. It also directed management to suspend any newly introduced fees, such as the 75th Anniversary dues and the Development Levy if these were not previously in place, while maintaining only charges that were already approved.
The directives were contained in a letter dated January 5, 2026, signed by the Director General of GTEC, Prof Ahmed Jinapor Abdulai, and addressed to the Vice Chancellor of the University of Ghana. The letter followed reports last week that the university had implemented fee increases exceeding 25 per cent across its colleges for the upcoming academic year.
The fee adjustments sparked widespread backlash from students and the public, prompting university management to explain that the increases were largely driven by third-party charges imposed by student leadership rather than decisions taken by the university itself.
In its January 5 correspondence, a copy of which was sighted by Graphic Online, GTEC recalled an earlier letter dated November 3, 2025, in which it expressed concern that public tertiary institutions had, over the years, reviewed student fees without complying with statutory procedures, often leading to implementation challenges.
The Commission said that in line with the Fees and Charges Act and its mandate to ensure the effective and efficient operation of tertiary institutions, it was reiterating that no new fees for the 2025/2026 academic year could be charged without prior parliamentary approval.
Vice Chancellors were therefore directed to maintain existing fee levels and only implement any revised fees after Parliament has granted approval.
Addressing the University of Ghana specifically, GTEC stated that it had been informed that the institution had increased fees by about 25 per cent and, in some cases, introduced new charges without the necessary approvals.
“Informed by this, the Ghana Tertiary Education Commission, by this letter, requests the University of Ghana to do the following:
Reverse any fee increases and/or dues immediately.
- Credit all continuing students who have overpaid compared to last Academic Year’s fees for the next Academic Year.
- Refund the difference to final-year students who have paid in excess of the fees for last Academic Year.
- Revert all dues, including SRC and GRASSAG dues, to last Academic Year’s rates.
- Suspend any new fees, such as the 75th Anniversary dues and Development Levy (if newly introduced), except for those that were already in place. The fees must be set at the last Academic Year’s rate.
“You are hereby requested to provide GTEC with evidence of compliance not later than January 12, 2026. Failure will result in the Commission instituting SERIOUS REGULATORY SANCTIONS against the University of Ghana,” the letter added.
The letter was copied to the Minister of Education, his deputy, the Chairman of the Parliamentary Select Committee on Education, the Chairman of the Vice Chancellors of Ghana, and the Director of Internal Audit at the University of Ghana.
