Africa Education Watch (Eduwatch) has expressed concern over a projected sharp decline in tertiary admissions for the 2025/2026 academic year, warning that financial constraints could prevent tens of thousands of qualified students from enrolling despite having secured admission.
In a statement shared on its official Facebook page, the education policy advocacy group said its analysis of the 2025 West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) results, together with early findings from its tertiary admissions monitoring, suggests that total admissions for the 2025/26 academic year could drop to about 160,000.
This would represent a significant fall from the roughly 195,000 admissions recorded in the previous academic year.
Eduwatch noted that while performance trends from the 2025 WASSCE have influenced admission numbers, financial hardship remains a major driver of the projected decline.
“Beyond the WASSCE effect, a significant number of qualified tertiary applicants remain at home with their admission letters due to financial reasons, even as lectures have already commenced,” the group stated.
According to Eduwatch, many students who meet academic requirements and gain admission into tertiary institutions are unable to report to campus because they cannot afford fees and related expenses, raising serious concerns about fairness and access to higher education.
The group said timely government intervention could still help reverse the trend. It suggested that if the Ministry of Finance releases funds to absorb or support the fees of students who are currently unable to enrol, several thousand additional admissions could still be achieved this academic year.
“If the Ministry of Finance were to release funds immediately to absorb the fees of those currently at home, several thousand additional admissions could still be recorded,” the statement said.
Eduwatch warned that delays in addressing the issue could have lasting consequences for Ghana’s education system. It projected that the tertiary transition rate—the share of students moving from secondary to tertiary education—could fall from about 40 per cent in the 2024/25 academic year to around 35 per cent in 2025/26.
Such a decline, the group noted, would make the transition rate one of the lowest recorded in the past decade.
Eduwatch added that it has been drawing policymakers’ attention to these risks for several months.
“Eduwatch has consistently communicated these risks since November 2025. Immediate and decisive action is required,” the post emphasised.
