The National Universities Commission (NUC) has approved 13 new degree programmes for Nigerian universities to enhance academic relevance and align higher education with global standards.
In a circular addressed to all vice-chancellors, the commission announced that the new programmes have been added to the Core Curriculum and Minimum Academic Standards (CCMAS). The circular, signed by the NUC Executive Secretary, Professor Abdullahi Yusufu Ribadu, stated that experts from the Nigerian university system developed 70 percent of the national component of the programmes in March 2025.
Universities are expected to create the remaining 30 percent as their institutional component in line with CCMAS guidelines.
The newly approved programmes include Artificial Intelligence, Classical Christian Education, Human Kinetics (Sport Management), Geomatics Engineering, Community Health Science, Intelligence and Security Studies, Islamic Economics and Finance, Parasitology and Entomology, Telecommunication Science, Water Sanitation and Hygiene, Cooperative Economics and Management, Nuclear Science, and Nuclear Engineering.
The NUC advised universities interested in offering any of the new programmes to begin implementation in the 2025/2026 academic session after a successful resource assessment visit. Vice-Chancellors were also instructed to share the approved CCMAS documents with relevant faculties, departments, and academic planning units.
EduTimes Africa, a product of Education Times Africa, is a magazine publication that aims to lend its support to close the yawning gap in Africa's educational development.
