Effects Of Increase In Tuition Fees On Business Education Students’ Enrolment

The study examines the effects of increase in tuition fees on business education students’ enrollment in tertiary institutions in Ekiti State. Fees increase has serious implications for educational enterprise across the globe, especially in developing countries at the turn of the 21st century. The era of government giving scholarships, grants and subsidies to students to support education seems to have been over. Therefore this study employed the use of primary and secondary data as sources of data collection while 180 questionnaires were designed in line with the research questions and objectives of the study. The method of data analysis was chi-square statistics which was used to test the relationship between the null and alternative hypotheses. The outcome of the study shows that there is a significant relationship between the increase in the tuition fee of tertiary institutions of Education, Ekiti State and the reduction in the level of student’s enrollment. Findings revealed that removal of scholarships, subsidies and grants, and globalization forces, triggered negative consequences such as violent demonstrations, open and close syndrome, decrease in enrollment, increase in drop-out rate, students’ exposure to the off-campus residence and attendant unsettling non-conducive environment for effective and serious academic activities that could have launched Nigeria into the 21st Century global knowledge economy. The study recommends the adoption of UNESCO’s 26% bench-mark for education as a solution to the reduction in the students’ enrolment rate.