Over 17,000 students failed to gain admission into Legon

A total of 17,524 prospective students could not gain admission into the University of Ghana this year.

According to the Vice-Chancellor, Professor Ernest Aryeetey, the university received a total of 35,630 applications, but was only able to admit 18,106 comprising 14,737 undergraduate and 3,369 graduate students.

This was revealed by the Vice Chancellor at the matriculation ceremony for freshmen who were admitted into the university for the 2015/2016 academic year.

Currently, only 8,541 of the admitted students have officially registered as students of the university.

Professor Aryeetey in his speech challenged the students to do their best to sustain the achievements recorded by the university within the last few years.

A recent ranking by Thompson Reuters placed the University of Ghana in the 10th position among African universities.

Also, the university inched up from the 52nd position in the Webometrics ranking for Africa in 2009 to the 19th position at the beginning of 2015.

“…I applaud all colleagues, students and stakeholders of the University who have enabled us attain this feat, and I am sure that all of you, as freshmen, will join us to work harder to ensure that our rankings go even higher both on the continent and internationally, ” he stated.

Some major infrastructural developments that have been carried out through partnerships to provide improved services and generate significant income for the university include; a College of health sciences medical centre, construction of an extended facility for the College of Humanities, a new college of Education, a new dedicated facility for the College of Basic and Applied Sciences as well as a new 1000 bed capacity hostel for students.

Professor Ernest Aryeetey also advised the students to maintain a high level of discipline to facilitate their success upon completion,

“…Those of you, who are fortunate enough to have been admitted to study at the University of Ghana, have an obligation to use your education for the benefit of others. We believe that each of you must become an active citizen of this community and every community that you will inhabit in the future. As you begin your studies at the University of Ghana, I want to encourage you to strive for excellence,” he said.