The Ghana Tertiary Education Commission (GTEC) has ordered the management of the University of Ghana (UG) to immediately reverse all recent fee increases and dues for the 2025/2026 academic year, warning that failure to comply will attract serious regulatory sanctions.
In a letter dated January 5, 2026, and signed by the Director-General of GTEC, Prof. Ahmed Jinapor Abdulai, the Commission stated that “publicly funded universities cannot review student fees without adhering to proper procedures, including seeking Parliamentary approval as mandated by law.”
GTEC said it had been informed that the University of Ghana increased academic fees by more than 25 per cent across its colleges and, in some instances, introduced new charges without prior approval from the relevant authorities.
“Informed by this, the Ghana Tertiary Education Commission, by this letter, requests the University of Ghana to reverse any fee increases and/or dues immediately,” the letter said.
The Commission further directed the university to credit all continuing students who have overpaid compared to the previous academic year. “All continuing students who have overpaid compared to last academic year’s fees should be credited for the next academic year,” GTEC stated.
For final-year students, GTEC ordered UG to refund any excess payments. “The University is to refund the difference to final-year students who have paid in excess of the fees for last academic year,” the Commission noted.
In addition, GTEC directed that all dues, including SRC and GRASSAG dues, be reverted to last academic year’s rates. It also ordered the suspension of newly introduced charges such as the 75th Anniversary dues and any Development Levy.
“The University is to suspend any new fees, such as the 75th Anniversary dues and Development Levy, if newly introduced, except for those that were already in place. The fees must be set at the last academic year’s rate,” the letter stressed.
The directive follows public uproar last week after reports emerged that the University of Ghana had increased fees for the 2025/2026 academic year. University management later explained that the increases were largely due to “third-party charges imposed by student leadership, and not by the university authorities.”
However, GTEC maintained that no new or revised fees can be implemented without Parliamentary approval. Referring to an earlier letter dated November 3, 2025, the Commission said it had observed that public tertiary institutions had “over the years reviewed student fees without adhering to proper procedures, causing implementation difficulties.”
“To ensure compliance with statutory requirements under the Fees and Charges Act, new fees for the 2025/2026 academic year cannot be charged without prior approval from Parliament,” GTEC reiterated.
The letter, copies of which were sent to the Minister of Education, the Deputy Minister, the Chairman of the Parliamentary Select Committee on Education, the Vice Chancellors of Ghana and the Director of Internal Audit at UG, gave the university a deadline to comply.
“You are hereby requested to provide GTEC with evidence of compliance not later than January 12, 2026. Failure will result in the Commission instituting serious regulatory sanctions against the University of Ghana,” the letter warned.
