MANAGING HOUSEHOLD COST OF UNIVERSITY EDUCATION IN NIGERIA: IMPLICATIONS FOR STUDENTS' RETENTION

Abstract

Formal education at any level incurs certain monetary and opportunity costs. Governments support education by bearing the social cost burden, while households bear the private costs, to ensure that their wards acquire education for both personal and societal development. Notwithstanding the rising costs of university education, the social demand for it is also increasing. These concerns imply that they motivate education stakeholders to effectively manage the financial resources available for education to maintain access and affordability and increase student retention. In this paper, an attempt is made to examine the critical cost burden on households in university education, factors influencing households' costs of university education in Nigeria, the effects of high household costs on university education, and strategies for alleviating the cost burden. Among other suggestions, it was suggested that all education stakeholders should devise means to alleviate the private cost of university education in Nigeria to achieve personal and national goals.