Ghana Has the Resources for Free Tertiary Education — So Why Are Students Still Paying?

Ghana is not a poor country when it comes to education funding — it is a leaky one. The argument gaining fresh traction in policy circles is that the financial resources needed to extend free education all the way through to university level already exist within the national budget; the problem is that too much of that money evaporates through corruption, procurement irregularities, and administrative waste before it ever reaches a student's hands.

The Case Being Made

Proponents of free tertiary education in Ghana point to a familiar set of reference points. The country already operates a Free Senior High School (Free SHS) policy, launched in 2017, which removed fees for secondary education. That policy was itself once dismissed as financially unrealistic, yet it has been in place for several years and continues to function, however imperfectly. The question being raised now is: if Ghana could absorb the cost of Free SHS, why is a similar conversation about universities treated as fantasy?

The argument rests on a straightforward premise. Ghana's annual budget allocates a significant share of public expenditure to education, and the country additionally benefits from internally generated funds, oil revenues, and development partner support. Yet public universities remain underfunded, infrastructure is deteriorating on many campuses, and student loan debt burdens a growing number of graduates who enter a difficult job market. Meanwhile, Ghana Student Loan Trust Fund repayment rates remain stubbornly low, suggesting the loan model is not working as intended either.

What This Means for Ghana

The implications of this debate go beyond whether university fees are charged or waived. Access to tertiary education in Ghana remains heavily skewed along economic and geographic lines. Students from wealthier urban families are far more likely to complete university education than those from poorer rural households, not because of a lack of ability, but because of cost. Fees, accommodation, feeding, and indirect expenses price out a significant portion of qualified applicants every year.

If Ghana were to genuinely explore a model of free or heavily subsidised tertiary education, the benefits could be substantial. A more educated workforce directly supports industrialisation efforts, reduces reliance on imported expertise, and strengthens local capacity in sectors such as healthcare, engineering, agriculture and technology — all of which are priorities under various national development frameworks.

Critics of the idea raise legitimate concerns. Universities require sustained, predictable funding to maintain quality. Simply removing fees without replacing that revenue stream with something equally reliable could hollow out institutions rather than strengthen them. There is also the question of equity — whether public money should subsidise university education for all students, including those from wealthy backgrounds who can afford to pay.

These are solvable problems, however. Progressive funding models exist across the world. Some countries use graduate tax systems, where university is free upfront but graduates contribute a percentage of income above a threshold once employed. Others use means-testing to target subsidies at students who genuinely need them. None of these solutions require Ghana to discover new money — they require Ghana to manage existing money better.

The Real Obstacle

That is ultimately the crux of the argument. Ghana does not need a sudden oil windfall or a dramatic increase in foreign aid to make tertiary education more accessible. What it needs is tighter fiscal discipline, reduced leakage from public accounts, and a genuine political commitment to treating education as national infrastructure rather than a campaign talking point.

The conversation is worth having seriously. Ghana's population is young, its universities are producing graduates in increasing numbers, and global economic competition increasingly rewards countries that invest in human capital. Dismissing the idea of free or heavily subsidised tertiary education as utopian may itself be the more costly choice in the long run.