How many courses Nigerian tertiary institutions actually offer
The NUC-approved degree register lists more than 800 distinct degree programmes across the Nigerian university system. The NBTE polytechnic register adds several hundred more ND and HND programmes. The NCCE colleges of education register adds another set of teaching subject combinations. In total, a Nigerian candidate can choose from more than 1,500 distinct tertiary programmes across all institution types.
Most candidates know about 20 of them.
How courses group into faculties
Every NUC-accredited Nigerian university organises courses into faculties — broad academic groupings that share resources and accreditation review cycles. The largest faculties:
- Faculty of Arts: English, History, Linguistics, Philosophy, Theatre Arts, Religious Studies, Yoruba, Igbo, Hausa, Arabic.
- Faculty of Sciences: Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Biochemistry, Microbiology, Computer Science, Statistics, Geology.
- Faculty of Social Sciences: Economics, Political Science, Sociology, Psychology, Geography, Mass Communication, Public Administration.
- Faculty of Engineering: Mechanical, Electrical/Electronic, Civil, Chemical, Petroleum, Computer, Mechatronics, Agricultural.
- Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences: MBBS, Nursing, Pharmacy, Physiotherapy, Medical Laboratory Science, Radiography, Dentistry, Optometry, Public Health.
- Faculty of Law: the LLB programme; entry to Nigerian Law School and the Bar follows after the LLB.
- Faculty of Education: BEd in all teaching subjects.
- Faculty of Management Sciences: Accounting, Banking and Finance, Business Administration, Marketing, Insurance, Actuarial Science.
- Faculty of Agriculture: Agriculture, Soil Science, Crop Science, Animal Science, Forestry, Fisheries.
- Faculty of Environmental Studies / Built Environment: Architecture, Building, Estate Management, Quantity Surveying, Urban and Regional Planning, Surveying and Geoinformatics.
Choosing a course (versus choosing a school)
The decision sequence most Nigerian candidates follow — pick the school first, then pick the course you can get into there — is backwards. The better sequence:
- Identify the course or course family you want. Talk to actual practitioners. Read job postings for entry-level roles. Understand the day-to-day work and earning profile after 3 years.
- Confirm the subject combination matches your interests and SSCE strengths. Use the subject combination checker to verify your JAMB subjects match course requirements.
- Identify every Nigerian institution that offers the course with accreditation. The institution comparison pages list this for each course.
- Filter that list by JAMB cut-off versus your realistic score band, then by total cost. The admission checker automates this filter.
- Choose your final A-list, B-list and C-list institutions for JAMB. Have backup plans in place.
Entry requirements — the unwritten rules
Every Nigerian course has a publicly stated entry requirement and an unwritten one. The public requirement is the minimum: five SSCE credits including English and Mathematics, with specific science or arts credits depending on course; JAMB UTME with the four-subject combination matching the course requirement; institutional cut-off met. The unwritten requirement is the competitive aggregate score the institution will actually admit at.
For competitive courses (Medicine, Law, Pharmacy, Computer Science, Engineering at top federal universities), the competitive aggregate runs 30–60 marks above the published cut-off. Always plan for the competitive aggregate, not the published cut-off.
Career destinations by course family
Course-to-career patterns vary dramatically by field.
- Engineering, Computer Science, Software Engineering: private-sector tech, telecommunications, oil and gas, manufacturing. Top graduates achieve six-figure naira starting salaries; remote international employment is increasingly viable.
- Medicine, Pharmacy, Nursing: healthcare; emigration to Saudi Arabia, UK, US, Canada is common after registration and 2 years of practice.
- Law: private legal practice, corporate counsel, public-sector legal advisory, judicial appointment progression.
- Accountancy, Banking and Finance: banking, audit firms (PwC, Deloitte, KPMG, EY), financial services, corporate finance.
- Mass Communication, English: media, journalism, public relations, marketing, advertising.
- Education: teaching at all levels; education administration; education research.
Related on academics.ng
Search the course directory. Confirm your JAMB subject combination on the checker. Compare departmental cut-offs for any course on the cutoff marks database. Identify the best schools for your course on the admission checker.