The Federal Government has made participation in Nigeria’s national tertiary education ranking exercise compulsory for all universities, polytechnics and colleges of education.
The Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa, announced the policy on Tuesday in Abuja during a meeting with the Nigerian Universities Ranking Advisory Committee, which has now been expanded and renamed the Nigerian Tertiary Education Ranking Advisory Committee.
According to the minister, the expanded framework is aimed at improving quality, accountability, institutional performance and global competitiveness across Nigeria’s tertiary education sector.
Alausa said the ranking exercise would give institutions clear benchmarks for assessing their performance, identifying areas for improvement and measuring progress.
He announced that the 2026/2027 ranking exercise for universities will begin in September, while the committee will determine when the exercise will be extended to polytechnics and colleges of education.
The minister added that the government would develop guidelines to institutionalise the exercise and formally inform vice-chancellors and heads of other tertiary institutions that participation would be compulsory.
The Federal Government is expected to fund the exercise through the Tertiary Education Trust Fund, while the Ministry of Education will provide policy direction, funding and capacity-building support.
Minister of State for Education, Professor Suwaiba Ahmad, said the ranking would cover both public and private institutions and help establish and maintain minimum standards across the tertiary education system.
She said the exercise would enable institutions to identify their strengths and weaknesses, address gaps and improve the quality of education they provide.
Chairman of the ranking advisory committee and former Executive Secretary of the National Universities Commission, Emeritus Professor Peter Okebukola, said the committee’s original proposal focused on universities.
However, he said the minister expanded its mandate to include polytechnics and colleges of education, leading to the transformation of NURAC into the Nigerian Tertiary Education Ranking Advisory Committee.
The new framework comes amid efforts by Nigerian universities to improve their standing in international rankings, which assess factors including research output, academic reputation, citations, international outlook and institutional resources.
The Federal Government’s decision means tertiary institutions will move from voluntary participation to a system where they are required to provide data and engage with nationally established performance benchmarks.
