The University of Guyana is planning to increase its annual student intake by 2,000, as applications are expected to spike by approximately 30% now that the University is tuition free for Guyanese students.

In an interview with News Source, Vice Chancellor of the University of Guyana, Dr. Paloma Mohamed-Martin said that she anticipates that the transition to being a tuition free tertiary institution will be challenging with applications likely to flood the system. 

“We expect to see about a 30% increase in application rates, that’s what the literature where this has happened across the world has said. Guyana might even exceed that given our economic prospects and so many people will want to try and change their lives through education, this level of education,” Vice Chancellor Mohamed Martin said.

She said the university is bracing for the influx of applications, as the application process has commenced.

Breaking down the numbers, she said the increase could see about 20,000 applications being submitted this year alone. However, it would only be able to increase its intake from 3,000 to about 5,000.

“So, we usually get between 13,000 and 16,000 applications a year; we only are able to take in about 3,000. Of 13,000 and 16,000 applications we get, maybe 50% wouldn’t be good, meaning, that they don’t meet the minimum requirements but the other 7-8,000, have of those would not get in. They would not get in because we don’t have the space to put them in. That is always heart breaking for all of us. I mean, it is terrible. So, some of them, will get accept and they drop out because they can’t pay. We haven’t been forcing them to pay for the last four years…So, what this means, the 30% means, is that we are looking at 20,000 applications. And we will try to add 2,000 more this year. So, we will try to accept 5,000 but it depends on the capacity and the discipline,” the Vice Chancellor explained.

It was explained that prior to 2025, there were three primary variables that would determine whether someone would attend the university, with the first being the need to apply, followed by whether he or she met the minimum requirement, and their ability to pay the tuition fees.

“Now, we are taking out could you pay. Once the State is paying, we have to find a way to ensure that students from all across the country are able to get a chance. So, our composition in the next two or three years, in terms of how many from each region, etc, has to change. And, we have spent a lot of time in the last couple of months, once we knew the date, to try to work out, how we deal with the matrix, how we deal with the quotas, because we can’t take everybody,” the Vice Chancellor explained.

The university’s student population currently stands at 11,000.

It is hoping to increase those numbers even further to 30,000 by 2040 in keeping with its “aspirational goals” to produce at least one graduate per household.

The Vice Chancellor said now that the tuition fees have been abolished, it may very well, result in the university achieving that target much earlier.

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