Nigeria’s persistent university quality gap is pushing thousands of students to seek education abroad, at a staggering cost of $1.39 billion.

For many Nigerian students, the dream of quality education now lies across the border, and while parents empty their savings to fund schooling overseas.

As local institutions grapple with underfunding, outdated facilities, and unstable academic calendars, the country continues to lose both talent and capital at an alarming rate amounting to $1.39 billion in six months of 2025; the highest in five years.

According to Balance of Payments report from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Nigerians spent a total of $1.39 billion (N2.16 trillion) on foreign education in the first half of 2025.

Nigerians spent $38.17m on foreign education between January and March 2024, according to data from the Central Bank of Nigeria’s first-quarter 2024 statistical bulletin.

Nubi Achebo, director of academic planning at Nigerian University of Technology and Management (NUTM), believes that Nigeria’s foreign‑education bill is eye‑popping, with the CBN’s data indicating the country is sending more money out while hardly any is coming in.

Achebo emphasised that reasons are due to quality gaps, insecurity, Political and policy instability, among others.

“Lecture halls are overcrowded, labs are outdated, and frequent university strikes disrupt the academic calendar.

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“Kidnappings, banditry and campus cultism make parents nervous about sending their kids to Nigerian campuses. Besides, sudden changes in funding or governance create an unpredictable environment for higher education,” he said.

He disclosed that given the scenario, it does feel a bit optimistic to expect a sudden influx of international students.

“The same reports that highlight the massive outflow also note that Nigeria “attracts little or no foreign students” because of the decline in standards and insecurity.

“If the sector gets a serious injection of funding, improves infrastructure, and tackles security, the country could become a regional education hub,” Achebo noted.

Crumbling lecture halls, outdated laboratories, overcrowded classrooms, and inadequate student accommodations are just some of the visible signs of a decaying infrastructure system that continues to undermine the country’s higher education goals.

These structural deficits, both physical and institutional, cast long shadows over efforts to improve academic quality, research output, and graduate employability, leaving students and educators caught in a system struggling to sustain itself.

Most of the country’s public universities are plagued with unreliable power supply which is forcing students to rely on generators. Water scarcity is persistent, impacting hygiene and sanitation.

Every year, thousands of young Nigerians graduate from universities without the basic competencies required to thrive in a modern workplace.

This educational gap raises urgent questions about the sustainability of Nigeria’s economic future.

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Nigeria’s education budget over the years dangles below 10 percent of the total expenditure. From 2015 to 2025, the education budget has been nose-diving from 10.75 percent to just 5.47 percent of the national budget.

According to UNESCO between 15 percent and 20 percent of a country’s annual budget should be allocated to education. However, Nigeria has consistently fallen short of this benchmark, with education allocations hovering below eight percent in most of the last 10 years.

President Bola Tinubu, in 2025 earmarked N3.5 trillion for education, but the figures for the 2024 budget indicate that only N1.59 trillion, just 5.5 percent of the N28.77 trillion budgets, was allocated to education.

Friday Erhabor, director of media and strategies at Marklenez Limited, said because of the government’s failure to make tertiary education attractive, and the surging unemployment rate, many Nigerians see education tourism as an escape route from the economic hardship.

“A lot of Nigerians use foreign education as an escape route to leave the country and secure any job available over there.

“The reason is because it’s the easiest way to secure visa to leave the country and work over there,” he said.

Erhabor emphasised that Nigerians are leaving because of the insecurity crises both in jobs and life. Even those outside the country would want to come back home, if you ask them, they will tell that there is no place like home; but because of the situation of things in the country.

They are leaving the country in numbers because job opportunities are there, while in Nigeria, the youth will graduate without jobs.

“The government should make the environment friendly, especially with the insecurity issues, and create more jobs for the youth, they won’t bother going abroad.

“Some years ago, many foreigners were trooping into Nigeria for their tertiary education, but the revise is the case today; the authorities must fix the system,” he emphasised.