The government has earmarked GH¢499.8 million for the implementation of the free university tuition initiative for first-year students.
Finance Minister Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson announced this during his presentation of the 2025 Budget in Parliament on Tuesday, March 11.
“Mr. Speaker, an amount of GH¢499.8 million has been allocated for the No-Academic-Fee policy for all first-year students in public tertiary institutions under the ‘No-Fees-Stress’ initiative,” Dr. Forson said.
Ahead of the 2024 election, President Mahama pledged to provide tuition-free education for first-year students in public universities.
Dubbed the ‘No Fees Stress’ initiative, the policy aims to increase access to higher education, particularly for students from economically disadvantaged backgrounds.
Universities commenced the admission process before the proposed policy took effect. However, Education Minister Haruna Iddrisu assured that students who have already paid their fees will be reimbursed.
In a related development, Dr. Forson announced budgetary allocations of GH¢3.5 billion for the Free Senior High School (SHS) policy, GH¢564.6 million for the comprehensive provision of free curricula-based textbooks, and an increase in the School Feeding Programme budget from GH¢1.344 billion to GH¢1.788 billion in 2025, representing a 33 per cent rise.
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