The Vice Chancellor of the university, Prof. Ebenezer Oduro Owusu, said the move had become necessary because of the large number of prospective students who are turned away annually.

Out of the 41,447 undergraduate applications the university received this year, it could admit only 23,041 to its main campus, Korle Bu campus, Accra City campus and distance learning. 

“Large numbers of prospective students apply to the university yearly, and each time, we are faced with the painful decision of having to turn down the applications of many otherwise well-qualified applicants due to limitations of our staff and facilities,” Prof. Owusu said during the 2017 matriculation of the university last Saturday.

He said the university administration had faced those challenges annually but was working on it to admit more applicants in the coming years.

Admission statistics

According to statistics on the university’s website, last year the university received a total of 40,435 applications, made up of 32,843 undergraduate and 7,592 graduate applications, but it offered admission to only 25,295 students.

For the 2015/2016 academic year, the university received a total of 35,630 applications, made up of 28,665 undergraduate and 6,965 graduate applications, but offered admission to 18,106 students.

Prof. Owusu said the university continued to work to make admission systems as “stress-free as possible for students and parents”.

Excellence and discipline

To the students, he said excellence did not come from spending 24 hours a day in the library, nor did it come from spending 12 hours a day on religious activities, spending all the time on entertainment and other extra-curricular activities.

“You will be well on the way to achieving excellence if you are able to strike the right balance between your academic, extra-curricular and social life,” he said.

Focus

Miss Jean Nelson, who spoke about the expectations of the fresh students, observed that gaining admission to the university was a major transition period involving new experiences, new people and new surroundings.

“I am barely four weeks on campus, but I have realised that my expectations will have to be properly focused. I have realised that some thoughts I had about university life are far from reality.”

“It is a time of great anticipation, often with equal measures of excitement and fear of the unknown,” she said.