DETERMINANTS OF CARRYING CAPACITY OF ACADEMIC PROGRAMMES IN FEDERAL UNIVERSITIES IN NIGERIA

Abstract

Universities' inadequate provision of human resources, material resources and infrastructural facilities due to poor funding resulted in the formulation of principles of faculty carrying capacity that admission of students be based on available facilities such as classrooms, staff, equipment and materials. Admission to universities in Nigeria is highly competitive because of the increasing importance attached to university education in the development of individuals and the nation. In spite of this realisation, studies on university education have placed a great emphasis on the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board's cut-off points without considering the carrying capacities of admitting universities and factors that determine the admission of students. This study, therefore, investigates the relationship between the number of academic staff, fund allocation, physical resources, material resources and carrying capacity in selected federal universities in Nigeria.

The study adopted the survey research design of the ex-post facto type. The Purposive sampling technique was used to select one federal university from first and second generation universities that have been producing graduates since 2002/2003 academic year in the six geopolitical zones in Nigeria. Five sets of checklists were used to collect secondary data. These were Academic and Non-academic Staff Data; Checklists Fund Allocation; University Student Enrolment (undergraduate); Inventory of Physical and Material Resources. Four research questions were raised and answered and five hypotheses tested at 0.05 level of significance. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics, analysis of variance and multiple regression.

Fund allocation was the major determinant of carrying capacity (F (1, 46) = 6.58, p <0.05). There was also a positive correlation between the number of academic staff and carrying capacity (r = 0.55, p < 0.05). The degree of contribution of the independent variables to carrying capacity was as follows: fund allocation (? = 0.95, t=2.39; p >, 0.05), material resources (? = -0.31, t=-1.14; p > 0.05), academic and non-academic staff (? = -0.16, t=-0.39; p > 0.05), physical resources (?=0.13, t=0.51; p > 0.05). The result showed that each university was significantly different from the other in terms of fund allocation (F (5, 42) =3.59, p<0.05). There was also a significant variation in the number of academic staff (F (5, 12) =108.61, p<0.05). The carrying capacity of the universities was significantly different from one another (F (5, 42) =38.42, p<0.05). There were no significant differences among physical resources, material resources and carrying capacity and no significant difference was observed in their present enrolment and their carrying capacity. In addition, Usman Dan-Fodio had the least number of academic staff followed by Unilorin, UniMaid, UniBen and UNN with UI having the largest mean human resources. Fund allocation and the number of academic staff had significant influence on carrying capacity in the federal universities in Nigeria. Education stakeholders should, therefore, assist in the provision of adequate funding and adhere strictly to carrying capacity principles to maintain and improve the quality of university education in Nigeria.