There are lots of considerations to make before applying to a medical school in Nigeria. While the location of the medical school, admission requirements, infrastructure, and current accreditation status are important, one of the very first things a medical school aspirant looks out for before filling out an application form is the cost of studying in the medical school.
Recently, we carried out a survey on our Twitter page and WhatsApp channel to find out the attitude of students towards selecting a university in Nigeria. And the comparison was between public universities in Nigeria and private universities in Nigeria offering medicine and surgery. We used the Twitter poll feature to carry out the exercise on Twitter, and on WhatsApp, we used a direct response system on our WhatsApp status. The images below showed the result of our survey.
The result of the poll showed that most respondents actually prefer attending a public school with their major reasons being the cost of attending a private school. Meanwhile, most people said they would prefer to go to private school as long as they can afford the tuition.
In Nigeria generally, Federal Universities are usually the cheapest for studying any course at all because of the funding from the Federal government. This is followed by State Universities also due to the funding from the State government, and finally, the Private Universities which are funded by individuals and private bodies.
So to help medical students who are looking forward to entering any of the private universities in Nigeria offering medicine and surgery, but are discouraged by the outrageous cost of studying medicine in these private schools, I have done some research and come up with a list of the cheapest private universities in Nigeria that offer medicine and surgery.
Table of Contents
- List of Private Universities In Nigeria That Offering Medicine and Surgery
- Which are cheapest private universities in Nigeria that offer medicine and surgery?
- Studying Medicine In Nigerian Private Universities: What To Expect
- Admission Requirements For Private Medical Schools In Nigeria:
- Final Words!
List of Private Universities In Nigeria That Offering Medicine and Surgery
Below are all the private universities in Nigeria offering medicine and surgery as of January 2022:
- Afe Babalola University
- Babcock University
- Bingham University
- Bowen University Oyo
- Gregory University Abia State
- Igbinedion University Okada
- Madonna University Elele
List of Accredited Medical Schools In Nigeria (MDCN: October 2021)
Every two (years), the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria (MDCN) which is the regulatory body for the practice of Medicine, Dentistry, and Alternative Medicine in Nigeria carry out an exercise called accreditation. This exercise is meant to checkmate the various universities offering medicine and surgery in Nigeria and such exercises include various academic exercises like:
- Conferences, seminars, and workshops
- Self-learning activities
- Management/ICT, Medical informatics, and Medical education
- Course revision and updating
- Grand rounds and clinical meetings
- Journals clubs, research, and publications
- Miscellaneous eg. Accreditors, examiners, resource persons, etc.
All these activities can take up to 3 months to complete. And at the end, the medical school that does not meet the minimum standards for training and graduating medical students as doctors will lose their accreditation. Therefore, any certificate given out by these medical schools remains invalid within the country. On the other hand, the medical schools that we’re able to meet these minimum requirements will retain their accreditation for the next 2 years.
After the last accreditation exercise by the MDCN in October 2021, the college of medicine for the following private universities in Nigeria offering medicine and surgery were able to retain their accreditation:
- Igbinedion University Okada, Edo State
- Madonna University Elele, Rivers State
- Bingham University Karu, Nasarawa State
- Bowen University Iwo, Osun State
- Babcock University Llisham-Remo, Ogun state
- Afe-Babalola University Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti State
Which are cheapest private universities in Nigeria that offer medicine and surgery?
Knowing the exact cost of studying Medicine in Nigerian private universities can be quite difficult. All we keep hearing is that these schools pay outrageous amounts per session, making the school only affordable for Nigerians in the upper class. What makes it worse is that if you go to the pages on Google to verify these prices, you will find multiple websites with very different and confusing answers.
So which ones do we take?
After going through all the education websites I could find on Google, and seeing this disparity in the figures, I decided to find out the cheapest private universities in Nigeria that offer medicine and surgery by myself from the schools directly. I had to visit the official website of all the 7 private universities in Nigeria that offers medicine and surgery to find out what their school fees for medical students are like. And having gone through all seven, I came up with the list of all the private universities that offer medicine in Nigeria and their fees. I was also able to arrange them in ascending order of magnitude of their school fees.
Below is a list of the cheapest private universities in Nigeria that offer medicine and surgery, their fees, and what their medical school is like. The universities are arranged according to the ascending order of their school fees. Such that the cheapest private medical school in Nigeria will appear on top and the most expensive down the list.
Kindly note that these fees are the official fees on the school website. That includes the tuition and accommodation fees. It does not account for all other unofficial fees paid within the school in various faculties and departments.
1. Gregory University
Based on my research, Gregory University Uturu is number one in the list of the cheapest private universities in Nigeria that offer medicine and surgery. The University is located in Uturu, Abia state Nigeria and was named after Pope Gregory I. It was established in the year 2012, and they currently have over 800 students. Among 7 other faculties, they have the college of medical and Health Sciences for students who are in the Medicine and Surgery department.
The vision of the founders of Gregory university is to make it a world-renowned university is known for its quality education and research program.
Other medical-related courses under the College of Medical and Health Sciences in Gregory university include:
- Human Physiology
- Medical Biochemistry
- Human Anatomy
- Radiography and Radiation Sciences
- Nursing
- Physiotherapy
- Optometry
- Medical Laboratory Science and
- Public health.
Gregory University School Fees For Medicine and Surgery:
The school fees at Gregory university for medical students range between N1,250,000 to N1,500,000.
To learn more about the Gregory University College of Medical and health sciences, visit their school portal.
2. Madonna University
Next on our list of the cheapest private universities in Nigeria that offer medicine and surgery is the first private Catholic University in the whole West Africa region. It is also the first private university to be approved by the Nigerian Federal Government. The first academic program at Madonna university commenced in the year 1999, and it was founded by Very Rev. Prof. EMP. Edeh CSSP OFR. The university’s first campus was at Okija at the time it was founded but was later relocated to Elele in Rivers State in the year 2014. Currently, Madonna university has over 12,000 registered students, 3 campuses, and 33 registered courses.
Madonna University has a college of Medical and Health Sciences which offer the following courses:
- Medicine and surgery
- Health science
- Nursing science
- Public health
- Optometry
- Medical laboratory science.
Based on records, it is one of the best accredited private universities in Nigeria offering medicine and surgery. And above that, it is also one of the cheapest, making it the dream private school for most medical school aspirants.
Apart from the MBBS certificate medics acquire from Madonna university, the school prides itself with high moral standards and discipline being owned by the Catholic church. They also have top-notch infrastructures and train their students to meet the required standard globally.
One major con of going to Madonna university is the level of freedom in the school which is very limited unlike in many public schools.
Madonna University School Fees For Medicine and Surgery
Below is the breakdown of the school fees at Madonna University per session. This includes their accommodation, tuition, and other fees.
- First Semester: N925,000
- Second Semester: N575,000
TOTAL INCLUDING HOSTEL FEES: N1.5 MILLION
To learn more about Madonna university and its admission process, visit their website.
3. Babcock University
Previously known as Adventist College of West Africa, Babcock university was first started on September 17, 1959, by the Seventh Day Adventist Church. It was initially a senior college for training church workers from the West African Sub-region.
Since its inception, Babcock University has been raising the bars in terms of excellence in undergraduate education with the following schools:
- Computing Science and Engineering
- Benjamin Carson College of Medicine
- Education and Humanities
- Management sciences
- Law and security studies
- School of nursing sciences
- Public and allied health
- Science and technology
- Veronica Adeleke school of social sciences
- College of postgraduate studies
In the past, this institution has earned an award as the best private university in Africa, and obviously one of the best private universities in Nigeria offering medicine and surgery.
The requirement for an aspirant to get admitted into Babcock university is to get good scores in the Unified Tertiary Institution Admission (UMTE) and a minimum of 5 credits in the core science subjects including the English language; Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, and Biology.
Direct entry students are required to have a Bachelor’s degree with a minimum of a second class upper in their CGPA or any higher school certification. And the length of study for medicine in Babcock is a minimum of 6 years
Babcock University School Fees`For Medicine and Surgery
The average school fees coupled with accommodation fees and other charges in Babcock university is around the whooping sum of N1,997,200.
To learn more about Babcock university’s school fees for medicine and surgery and their admission process, visit their official website.
4. Igbinedion University
Igbinedion University was funded in 1999 by (Sir) Dr. Gabriel Osawaru Igbinedion with the aim of building a higher institution in Nigeria that meets international standards. From our research, it is the fourth on our list of the cheapest private universities in Nigeria that offer medicine and surgery.
This university is sited in Okada, headquarters of Ovia North-East local government area, Edo state. The school offers both undergraduate and postgraduate education and is one of the few accredited private universities offering medicine and surgery in Nigeria.
They pride themselves with over 5000 registered students with 7 colleges. They are also known across all countries in Sub-saharan Africa to be the first private university to produce medical doctors. Their mission is to strengthen the academic program offered across their various colleges to meet international standards.
Igbinedion University has graduated over 10,000 persons so far since it was founded in 1999, who are spread out in all walks of life.
The different colleges in Igbinedion University include;
- College of Pharmacy
- College of Engineering
- College of Arts and Social Sciences
- College of Natural and Applied Sciences
- College of Business and Management studies
- College of Law
- College of Health Sciences
In Igbinedion University, Medicine and Surgery department falls under the College of Health sciences alongside other departments like:
- Human Anatomy
- Physiology
- Biochemistry
- Medicine and Surgery
- Nursing Science
Igbinedion University School fees For Medicine and Surgery:
The school fees in Igbinedion university for all levels are as follows:
- 100 Level: N610,000 (For students in the Basic Medical sciences)
- 200 Level and above: N2,450,000 (For students in the Medical sciences)
For more information about Igbinedion University, their admission and medical school, visit their official website.
5. Bingham University
Bingham University was founded in 2005 by the Evangelical Church Winning All (ECWA). It was founded not as a church university, but to cater to the educational need of many Nigerian schools. It is among the few private universities in Northern Nigeria and actually the only one set up by a Christian organization. It is also the fifth in our list of the cheapest private universities in Nigeria that offers Medicine and Surgery.
The school is located in Karu, 25km from the Nigerian Federal Capital Territory. Their mission is to produce graduates that are groomed both in character and in learning. And their aim is to keep raising their bars to become a world-class university.
The Faculties under Bingham University include:
- Administration
- Allied Health Sciences
- Arts
- Basic Clinical Sciences
- Basic Medical Sciences
- Clinical Sciences
- Education
- Environmental Science
- Law
- Pharmaceutical Science
- Law
- Pharmaceutical Science
- Science and Technology
- Social and Management Sciences
Of all these faculties, the ones involved in the training of medical students are the Faculties of Basic Clinical Sciences, Basic Medical Sciences, and Clinical Sciences. The medical school admission requirements for undergraduates in Bingham University is a minimum of 5 credits in the Secondary School Certificate Examination in the following courses: English, Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, and Biology.
Bingham University School Fees For Medicine and Surgery
Below is a summary of the medicine and surgery schools for students in their various levels.
| LEVEL | TUITION | OTHER CHARGES | TOTAL |
| 100 level | N1,680,000 | N320,000 | N2,000,000 |
| 200 level | N1,180,000 | N320,000 | N1,500,000 |
| 300 level | N630,000 | N320,000 | N950,000 |
To find out more about Bingham University, their medical school, and the admission process, visit their website.
6. Afe Babalola University
Afe Babalola University is the 6th in our list of the cheapest private universities that offer Medicine and Surgery. It is also one of the best private universities in Nigeria in terms of infrastructure. In fact, this school prides itself as the only higher institution in Nigeria to move to its permanent site before the issuance of a provincial license by the Nigerian Federal Government.
The institution is located in Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti State, and was founded in 2009 by a Lawyer. They currently have a total of over 8,500 registered students and over 1225 staff. Their admission requirements for prospective medical students are the same for all other medical schools in Nigeria. This includes a minimum of 5 credits in SSCE including Mathematics and English and the three core science subjects; Physics, Chemistry, and Biology. Also, a good JAMB score and Post UTME score.
The vision of the founders was to reform the Nigerian education system by providing the best quality education, service, industry, character, and discipline. They have five colleges which include:
- College of Law
- College of Sciences
- College of Medicine and Health Sciences
- College of Engineering and
- College of Social and Management Sciences.
- The college of Medicine and Health sciences is responsible for training students in:
- Medicine and Surgery
- Nursing Science
- Medical Laboratory Science
- Anatomy
- Physiology
- Human Nutrition and Dietetics
- Pharmacology
- Public Health
- Pharmacy
- Dentistry and
- Optometry
Afe Babalola University School Fees For Medicine and Surgery
Based on my research, the current school fees for medicine and surgery at Afe Babalola University are within the range of N1,886,000 to N2,500,000.
However, if you want more information concerning Afe Bablola University, its admission process, and the medical school, visit their official school website.
7. Bowen University
According to my research, Bowen University is currently the most expensive private university in Nigeria offering Medicine and Surgery. It was founded in 2001 as a Christian university by the Baptist church. Their mission is to produce graduates who are nurtured in the fear of ‘God’ under conducive and dynamic teaching, learning, and research environment. Their core values are Godliness, Excellence, Entrepreneurship, Innovation, and Social responsibility.
Currently, the total number of students at Boyen University is over 4500. The school is sited at Iwo in Osun State, Nigeria.
The various colleges in Boyen University include:
- College of Agriculture, Engineering and Science
- College of Management and Social Sciences
- College of Law
- College of Liberal Studies
- College of Health Sciences
- College of Computing and Communication Studies
- College of Environmental Sciences
The college of Health sciences is the body that trains students of Medicine and Surgery. And their medical school admission requirements are the same for all other medical schools in Nigeria.
Breakdowns of Bowen University School Fees For Medicine and Surgery
| Acceptance fee (Nonrefundable) paid on acceptance of the offer of admission | N210,000 |
| Academic fees | N1,500,00 |
| Accommodation and conveniences | N180,000 |
| Other fees | N74,000 |
| Bench fees | N1,245,500 |
| Total | N2,999,500 |
Note: 70% of these fees are first-semester payments and 30% are second-semester payments.
For more information about Bowen University, its admission process, and Medicine and Surgery visit their official school website.
List of Private Universities in Nigeria offering medicine and their fees per session
- Gregory University – N1,250,000 to N1,500,000
- Madonna University – N1.5 MILLION
- Babcock University – N1,997,200.
- Igbinedion University – N610,000 to N2,450,000
- Bingham University – N950,000 to N2,000,000
- Afe Babalola University – N1,886,000 to N2,500,000
- Bowen University – N2,999,500
Studying Medicine In Nigerian Private Universities: What To Expect
If you are considering applying to study medicine and surgery in a Nigerian private university, you most likely have heard stories from people about life in private schools. While some students prefer attending a private university for very good reasons, some have chosen a public school for their own reasons too. But let us look at the common reasons for the disparity.
Reasons Why People Attend Private Universities
Incessant Strike in public schools
Considering the fact that public schools are managed by the Nigerian government, it is not uncommon to find disgruntled teachers and students going on strike because of the poor management of the school system. But in private universities, the administrators are more accountable considering the fact that most of them are run by religious bodies. At least you are sure of your graduate date or else there is a global occurrence that generally affects school like a pandemic.
It is relatively safer in terms of security
In most public schools in Nigeria, a lot of things are not well check-mated like cultism and intruders. In general, it is difficult to know who is who in public schools, such that your own security is mostly in your hands and that of your loyal friends.
But private universities in Nigeria have a good security structure. And with their smaller number, it is easier to keep account of the total number of students within and outside the campuses. This is a very good advantage for ensuring safety.
Their syllabus is fast due to strikes in public schools
Private schools have a separate calendar from public universities in Nigeria. And while everything that affects the Nigerian government affects these public schools, the story is not the same for private universities that have their own autonomy.
Better welfare
Private universities have that track record of having better welfare packages for students. This is possible because of the outrageous sums they pay as fees. This is not the same for public universities.
Other reasons why students prefer a private university over a public one will include:
- No threats from lecturers and older students
- Better morals and discipline
- Fewer students leading to a more concentrated learning system
- Better laboratories and equipment
- Better organized system among others.
On the other hand, the supporters of public schools have the following reasons for choosing them over private schools in Nigeria:
- High tuition and accommodation costs in private universities
- Public schools allow for independence and freedom
- Life on campus is generally fun in public schools
- To succeed, you must put in hard work without hope of obtaining favor
- Graduates from public schools have a better view of life in general
Admission Requirements For Private Medical Schools In Nigeria:
- O’ level certificate: This is either your WAEC/NECO or GCE with a minimum of 5 credits in the following subjects: English, Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry and Biology.
- JAMB And UTME: You need to score above the cut-off marks for Medicine and Surgery in both your JAMB and Post UTME/Screening exercise to get admission to study Medicine and Surgery in any Private University of your choice.
- JUPEB: For students who want to get admission to apply for Medicine after their JUPEB program, you should have a GPA above a cut-off mark for Medicine and Surgery in your Private University of choice.
- Direct Entry: This is a program for students who must have completed a 3 to 4 year program in any of the accredited universities in Nigeria and have earned a Bachelor’s degree. This category of persons have to have a CGPA of greater than 3.5 to stand a better chance of being accepted to study Medicine and Surgery in any Private University in Nigeria. Also, students from Polytechnics and Federal Colleges of Education can enter medical school through direct entry.
Final Words!
Choosing a Private University in Nigeria offering medicine and surgery is a good decision. But you have gone through the pros and cons of being in a private university and as well through my list of the cheapest private universities in Nigeria that offers Medicine and Surgery. You must have also seen the list of accredited colleges of medicine in the various Private Universities listed above. I believe all this information will inform your decision while procuring the admission form for these universities either for yourself or for your wards.
There are basically 7 private universities in Nigeria offering medicine and surgery at the moment. So my advice will be that you also visit each and every one of them to help you make a better decision towards your medical career journey. I have included the links to all 7 websites in the last paragraph after each description. I wish you the best in your MBBS journey.
Other Posts You May Like:
Top 10 Best Medical Schools In Nigeria
This was very helpful thanks