The Federal Government has made participation in Nigeria’s national tertiary education ranking exercise compulsory for all universities, polytechnics and colleges of education across the country.
Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa, announced the policy 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.
The expanded framework marks a significant change from the previous arrangement, which focused primarily on ranking universities.
Under the new system, universities, polytechnics and colleges of education will be assessed under a unified national ranking framework.
Alausa said the exercise was designed to strengthen quality, accountability, institutional performance and global competitiveness across Nigeria’s tertiary education system.
The minister explained that the ranking would provide institutions with clear benchmarks for assessing their performance and identifying areas that require improvement.
He added that the system would also enable institutions to measure their progress while encouraging healthy competition among tertiary institutions.
The Federal Government is expected to fund the ranking exercise through the Tertiary Education Trust Fund.
Alausa disclosed 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.
The minister also said the government would develop guidelines to institutionalise the exercise and formally communicate the compulsory participation requirement to vice-chancellors and heads of other tertiary institutions.
The policy forms part of President Bola Tinubu’s education reforms under the Renewed Hope Agenda and the Nigeria Education Sector Renewal Initiative.
According to Alausa, the Federal Ministry of Education will provide policy direction, funding and capacity-building support to make the ranking exercise credible, sustainable and impactful.
The ministry also plans to work with the expanded committee to provide in-service training and institutional capacity-building programmes across tertiary institutions.
The objective is to help more Nigerian institutions improve their standards and gain stronger recognition internationally.
The Minister of State for Education, Professor Suwaiba Ahmad, described the initiative as a significant step towards strengthening accountability and quality throughout Nigeria’s tertiary education system.
The government believes that a transparent national ranking system could help institutions identify weaknesses and develop strategies for improving their academic and administrative performance.
It could also give prospective students and parents additional information when comparing tertiary institutions across the country.
For universities, the exercise could provide a stronger incentive to improve areas such as teaching quality, research, infrastructure and institutional governance.
Polytechnics and colleges of education will also be brought into the national assessment structure, potentially giving greater visibility to institutions that have traditionally received less attention in global university rankings.
The expansion reflects the Federal Government’s broader attempt to treat tertiary education as a unified system rather than focusing exclusively on universities.
The policy comes as Nigeria continues to face concerns about the quality, relevance and international competitiveness of its higher education system.
Nigerian institutions have historically struggled to secure prominent positions in major international university rankings, highlighting the need for stronger research output, infrastructure and institutional capacity.
A national ranking framework could therefore provide government and institutional leaders with a clearer picture of areas where improvements are most urgently required.
However, the credibility of the exercise will depend heavily on the transparency of its methodology and the consistency with which institutions are assessed.
Institutions will also need adequate resources to address weaknesses identified through the ranking process if the exercise is to produce meaningful improvements rather than simply generate league tables.
The Federal Government’s decision to make participation compulsory signals that it intends the ranking exercise to become a permanent part of Nigeria’s tertiary education policy.
The expanded committee will now be responsible for guiding the implementation of the framework and determining how the different categories of institutions will be assessed.
For students, the development could eventually make it easier to compare institutions based on measurable indicators rather than reputation alone.
For tertiary institutions, however, the compulsory ranking could increase pressure to improve their performance and demonstrate measurable progress.
The initiative therefore places greater responsibility on institutions to strengthen their academic standards, governance structures and overall institutional effectiveness.
As the 2026/2027 university ranking exercise begins, attention will now shift to the criteria that will determine institutional performance and how quickly polytechnics and colleges of education are brought into the system.
If properly implemented, the Federal Government hopes the new framework will help raise standards across Nigeria’s tertiary education sector and improve the international standing of its institutions.