By Kelfala Kargbo
Freetown, 29th January 2026- The start of the 2025/2026 academic year has brought yet another increase in tuition fees for students at the University of Sierra Leone and other colleges across the country. Many students have condemned the hike, describing it as “unfair” and burdensome, especially amid the current economic difficulties. For the past five years, each academic year has come with a new fee list always higher than the last.
Sierra Leone once boasted one of the most affordable tertiary education systems in West Africa. Before 2018, government institutions operated under a 50% subsidy scheme, with students paying the remainder. That subsidy has long disappeared, and fees have risen sharply ever since.
For the 2025/2026 academic year, first-year students are required to pay NLe10,208, with tuition set at NLe5,820 and additional charges making up the balance. Law students face the highest costs among faculties, paying NLe13,792 compared to NLe11,116 last year. At the constituent colleges, Fourah Bay College (FBC), IPAM, and COMAHS, pharmacy students top the list, with first-year fees reaching NLe16,841.
The increases are not limited to undergraduates. At the Mass Communication faculty, final-year students who began with NLe6,185 in year one now pay NLe7,108. Meanwhile, master’s students in the same faculty face a staggering 100% increase, with fees jumping from NLe26,450 last year to NLe52,000 this year.
Despite widespread student complaints, the University of Sierra Leone insists fees have not been raised. Dr. Tonya Musa, Director of Communications and Public Relations, stated that the administration has not increased any charges.
However, former FBC Communications Director James Tamba Lebbie previously explained that annual increments are tied to inflation. He noted that first-year fees are always adjusted upward, while continuing students’ fees remain relatively stable.
Students across institutions say the reality tells a different story. Abubakarr Turay, a first-year Laboratory Science student at Milton Margai University, presented a receipt showing he paid NLe10,600 in tuition and charges. His classmate from the previous year, Emmanuel Korfeh, paid NLe7,300, a difference of NLe3,300.
Korfeh, who managed to pay his first-year fees, has since dropped out, citing the rising costs. “I could no longer handle how expensive the fees have become,” he said.
At FBC, Peace and Conflict student Abubakarr Tarawally described the situation as unbearable. “The increment is frustrating. As I speak, I am yet to clear my arrears,” he lamented.
Students also complain about paying for services that are never delivered. Mohamed Janneh, President of Students Against Corruption at Milton Margai University, said: “We are not against fee increments, but against paying for facilities that are not rendered. Computer labs and field trips are included in the charges, but they never happen.”
Ibrahim Sesay, a History student at FBC, added: “We were told fees should reduce as we progress, since charges like orientation and matriculation would no longer apply. But instead, they keep increasing.”
The Student Grant-in-Aid scheme, designed to cover 50% of fees for selected students, is also under scrutiny. Beneficiaries complain that government payments are often delayed or not received by universities, leaving them treated as defaulters.
One recipient explained that students with the grant are frequently driven out of examination halls alongside those who have not paid fees. “We are categorized the same way, even though the government is supposed to cover part of our costs,” the student said.
