Social demand and the supply of university education in Nigeria: the relevance of Fields' proposition

Bola Funmilayo Satope and S.I. Oladeji

International Journal of Education Economics and Development, 2012, vol. 3, issue 2, 97-112

Abstract: The study investigates the basic factors responsible for rapid expansion in provision of university education between 1980-2008 in Nigeria. It analyses in particular, the extent to which Fields' proposition holds sway in this respect. The study used secondary data obtained from JAMB, NUC, the CBN Statistical Bulletin and Annual Abstract of Statistics from NBS. The ordinary least square (OLS) estimation technique was used to examine the extent to which social demand consideration had influenced the expansion in university education. The OLS result showed that the social demand significantly influenced the expansion in number of universities (t = 3.87, p < 0.05), confirming Fields' postulation. However, it showed that there were still other factors like population growth (t = 8.48, p < 0.05), job needs (t = 6.58, p < 0.05), and growth rate of the economy (t = 8.35, p < 0.05), which significantly affected the expansion of universities. The study concluded that the Fields' proposition was validated in the context of the Nigerian situation.

Keywords: social demand; economic development; excess demand; economic factors; universities; higher education; Nigeria; education supply; university expansion. (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2012
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