Number of Universities in Nigeria

Updated 08/11/2016

Nigeria has a total of 153 Universities established between 1948-2016 and counting, according to the National Universities Commission (NUC)



Which can be divided into 3 categories namely

1. Federal Universities - There are 40 Federal Universities in Nigeria, at least one in each of the 36 states of the Federation and Abuja inclusive, with a few states with more than 1 . The oldest of which is the University of Ibadan ( UI) establised in Nigeria before her independence in 1948.


2. State Universities - There are about 44 State Universities with some states with more than 1 University and the oldest being Rivers State University of Science and Technology (RSUST) established in 1979 in the South -South of Nigeria.

3. Private Universities - The number of Private Universities in Nigeria is on the increase, considering the fact that Nigeria has an estimated population of about 170 Million people and the 82 Public Universities alone cannot sufficiently admit eligible students also industrial actions usually affect these Public Universities and by extension affect the number of years students will spend in school for their respective courses for the reason and several others those that can afford it opt for Private Universities in Nigeria. They are a bit recent the first batch of which were established in 1999 and they are 69 in number.






http://nuc.edu.ng/nigerian-univerisities