THE Federal Government has announced 16 years as the minimum age requirement for admission into tertiary institutions in Nigeria.
The latest policy was announced by the Minister of Education, Tunji Alausa, on Tuesday, July 8, during the 2025 policy meeting of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) held in Abuja.
The ICIR reports that the annual policy meeting establishes the guidelines for admissions into universities, polytechnics, and colleges of education for the upcoming academic session.
Alausa stressed that the age requirement was official and non-negotiable, warning that any admissions conducted outside the Central Admissions Processing System (CAPS) would be deemed illegal.
He stated that heads of institutions found guilty of admission fraud or bypassing the CAPS system would face prosecution in accordance with the law.
The ICIR reported that JAMB disclosed earlier this year that more than 11,553 underage candidates registered for the ongoing 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME).
According to JAMB, some parents register their children due to peer pressure.
The surge in underage registrations has sparked intense debate over the appropriate admission age for Nigeria’s tertiary institutions.
In 2024, the Minister of Education, Tahir Mamman, faced criticism for his initial directive to bar candidates below 18 from admission—a policy later revised to admit candidates aged 16 and above following appeals from stakeholders.
Mamman, at the 2024 admission policy meeting organised by JAMB, in Abuja, directed JAMB and tertiary institutions to stop admitting under-18-year-old candidates into higher education programmes.
During the review of the memorandum for the same 2024 policy meeting on the year admissions, Mamman eventually agreed with the adoption of 16 years.
He acknowledged that many of the underage candidates had already taken the UTME without prior knowledge of the directive.
Nanji is an investigative journalist with the ICIR. She has years of experience in reporting and broadcasting human angle stories, gender inequalities, minority stories, and human rights issues. She has documented sexual war crimes in armed conflict, sex for grades in Nigerian Universities, harmful traditional practices and human trafficking.