The Mahama-led government is set to pay the fees of about 156,294 first-year students in public universities nationwide for the 2025 academic year.
President John Mahama announced this during his 120-day performance update on Wednesday, May 7, 2025.
Known as the No-Academic-Fee policy or free university tuition, it was part of the President’s key campaign promises ahead of the 2024 election.
He explained that the policy aims to increase access to higher education, particularly for students from economically disadvantaged backgrounds.
During his address, the President revealed that GH₵452,940,012.00 has been allocated to cover the fees and will be disbursed through the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFUND).
“The ‘No-Academic-Fee’ policy for all first-year students in public tertiary institutions was a key promise to ease the burden on families and expand access to higher education. My government has taken concrete steps to implement this.”
“GETFUND has also been instructed to pay the fees directly to the tertiary institutions, ensuring timely disbursement to prevent delays and bureaucracy that typically frustrate students and school administrators alike,” he said.
To streamline access, the government has developed the ‘No-Fees-Stress’ application portal, which is now live.
“First-year students can register and authenticate their eligibility for this government funding through the portal,” Mahama noted.
He added that data from the Education Ministry has been provided to GETFUND for planning disbursements.
The President further announced the introduction of two policies: Free Tertiary Education for Persons with Disabilities (PWDs) and the Ghana Medical Trust Fund, popularly known as MahamaCares.
“We committed to introducing vital social interventions: Free Tertiary Education for Persons with Disabilities. Budget allocation for beneficiary students has been captured in the 2025 Budget Statement,” he added.
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