The Federal Government has officially pegged 16 years as the minimum age for admission into all tertiary institutions across Nigeria, effective from the 2025/2026 academic session.
The directive was issued on Tuesday by the Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, during the annual policy meeting on admissions organised by the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) in Abuja.
This policy replaces the earlier proposed 18-year limit introduced by former Education Minister, Prof. Tahir Mamman. Alausa said institutions must strictly comply, warning that violations would attract sanctions. He also reaffirmed that all admissions must be processed through the Central Admissions Processing System (CAPS), stressing that any admission outside CAPS will be deemed illegal. Institutions found culpable could face prosecution or lose their operating licenses.
Stakeholders at the meeting also agreed on 150 as the minimum Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) score for university admission, while 100 was approved for polytechnics, colleges of education, and colleges of agriculture. Colleges of nursing sciences will admit candidates with a minimum score of 140. JAMB Registrar, Prof. Is-haq Oloyede, clarified that these figures are minimum thresholds and institutions are not permitted to go below them.
The meeting fixed October 31, 2025, as the admission deadline for public universities, while private universities have until November 30. Polytechnics and colleges of education have until December 31 to conclude admissions.
Oloyede also announced that Lagos State University (LASU), the University of Lagos (UNILAG), and the University of Ilorin (UNILORIN) emerged as the top three most preferred institutions by candidates in the 2025/2026 admissions cycle. Notably, all three top UTME scorers this year—Okeke Chinedu Christian (375), Ayuba Simon-Peter John (374), and Jimoh Abdulmalik Olayinka (373)—are male and applied to study Mechanical Engineering.
The minister raised concerns about underutilisation of capacity, revealing that over 120 universities received fewer than 50 applications. He called for better alignment between existing institutional capacity and student intake, rather than creating new universities.
Meanwhile, Chairman of the Senate Committee on ICT and Cybersecurity, Shuaib Salisu, called for legislation to criminalise fraudulent admission practices. He warned institutions against exploiting the system and vowed that erring officials would be held accountable.
The minister also reaffirmed the use of the National Identification Number (NIN) for JAMB registration to prevent identity fraud and multiple entries, stressing the government’s commitment to transparency and merit in the tertiary education admission process.
