Today, we’re diving into a unique topic that you might find interesting – ‘Top 10 Worst Universities in Ghana.’ Now, we’re not here to bring any university down or spread negativity, but knowledge is power, right? So, stick around as we explore some universities in Ghana that, well, might not be hitting the academic high notes. Whether you’re a student doing some research or just curious about the educational scene, this article will help you identify which universities to avoid if you are looking for the best universities in Ghana.
These worst universities were selected based on their rankings according to Webometrics and AD Scientific Index, two renowned international institutions that rank universities worldwide. Being among the worst does not mean the university is useless, it simply means when compared to other universities in Ghana, they are the least among them. They may excel in some disciplines, but overall, they are not the best.
These are the 10 worst universities in Ghana 2024:
- Radford University College
- Mountcrest University College
- Perez University College
- Kessben University College
- Spiritan University College
- Marshalls University
- Kings University College
- Jayee University College
- Ensign Global College
- KAAF University College
- RADFORD UNIVERSITY COLLEGE
Radford University College is a private university established in 2010 and accredited by the National Accreditation Board (NAB) was founded by Nana Wiredu motivated by his acknowledgment of the great need identified in human history and Ghana in particular, and accepting the challenge to make a contribution to address this need. The College is affiliated with the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST). The university is located at East Legon in Accra.
The university was established to foster the entrepreneurial spirit needed for sustained development. This has led the school on a mission to provide unique structures and programmes that facilitate the creation of entrepreneurs, high-quality creative practitioners, and qualified science graduates, capable of meeting the needs of Ghana and beyond. Has the university succeeded on this mission? It doesn’t look like it according to their ranking.
Radford University College offers courses in Allied Health, Applied Sciences, Business Administration, Fashion Design, Graphic Design, and Information Communication Technology.
Webometrics ranks Radford University College as the 83rd best university in Ghana and the school’s ranking is even worse on a global scale, coming in as the 29095th best in the world. This ranking is bad news for students who are paying huge tuition fees at the university as it is one of the most expensive universities in Ghana.
2. MOUNTCREST UNIVERSITY COLLEGE
MountCrest University College (MCU) is a private institution for higher education in Ghana, established in August 2008 by Mr. Kwaku Ansa-Asare and Mrs. Helena Ansa-Asare. The university’s city campus is located at Kanda, Accra and the main campus is in the Eastern Region.
In 2010, MCU was granted accreditation by the National Accreditation Board to run programmes in Law, Publishing, Public Health, and Health Services Management both at the graduate and undergraduate levels. MCU envisions itself as becoming a world-class teaching and research university, however, this dream is far off based on their current ranking in Ghana and on the world stage.
The university has made strides in private education as the first private tertiary institution in Ghana to offer Bachelor of Laws (LLB), Post-First Degree (LLB) and Master of Laws (LLM) programmes. It will also be the first tertiary institution to establish a medical school in rural Ghana (Larteh-Akuapem). Despite these achievements, the university has found itself among the worst universities in Ghana.
Webometrics ranks Mountcrest University as the 80th best university in Ghana and the 24858th best in the world. As a university that opened its doors to students on 1st November 2011, this is no achievement to write home about.
Another ranking by EduRank places Mountcrest University College as the 35th (of 67) best university in Ghana, the 455th best in Africa, and 9675th best in the world. AD Scientific Index also ranks Mountcrest University College as the 75th-best university in Ghana.
3. PEREZ UNIVERSITY COLLEGE
Perez University College is an educational initiative of the Perez Chapel International. The school has relocated to Accra from Tamale since 1994. Currently, Perez University College has two schools: the School of Business and the School of Theology. It merged with Pan African Christian University College having been acquired by Perez Chapel in 2015.
Perez University College may be fulfilling its mission of training students to be critical thinkers, morally sound and to have an entrepreneurial outlook, unfortunately, this achievement has not placed them among the top universities in Ghana. With a vision to become a top-class entrepreneurial university that has local, national, and international influence, Perez University College’s reach and influence are very small and have placed it among the worst universities in Ghana.
Students who want to study theology may fare well at the university due to its Christian foundation, however, business students will do well to seek business education elsewhere among the best business universities in Ghana. Having begun as a bible college in September 1992, we would expect the university to rank higher, unfortunately, that is not the case.
Webometrics ranked Perez University College as the 79th best university in Ghana and the 24792nd best university in the world. This is one of the lowest ranking and far from what is expected of a university.
4. KESSBEN UNIVERSITY COLLEGE
Kessben University College (KUC), is a privately-owned tertiary institution that prepares students to contribute to the socio-economic development of Ghana and the broader world. KUC seeks to offer competitive demand-driven programmes of study that will ensure that it becomes a centre of excellence but it has unfortunately found itself among the worst universities in Ghana.
The goal of the university is to provide high-quality teaching, learning, research and community service as is expected of any university, unfortunately this is not the case per the ranking of the university. As one of the well-known universities in Ashanti Region offering courses in business, applied sciences and technology, social sciences and humanities and health and allied sciences, it is surprising to see it among the lowest ranked universities in Ghana.
Kessben University College is the 78th best universities in Ghana out of the 88 universities ranked by Webometrics and the 24658th best university in the world. AD Scientific Index also ranks Kessben University College as the 68th (of 82) best university in Ghana and the 21297th best university in the world.
5. SPIRITAN UNIVERSITY COLLEGE
Spiritan University College is a private Catholic University founded by the Congregation of the Holy Spirit, the Spiritans. The university is in the Ashanti Region
Spiritan University College opened on 17th December 1990 and although it started as a missionary school for priests, in 2002, the proprietors decided to open its doors to the general public and raised the academic standard of the university to offer Bachelor’s degree in Philosophy, Education, Business Administration, and Social Sciences. The university is affiliated with the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology and also runs a Master of Arts programme in Theology.
The university envisions itself as becoming an academia of excellence in research and teaching in truth in Ghana, and West Africa. The university also has the vision to venture into the training of personnel in business, education computer science and law. To attain this vision, however, the university has a lot of measures to put in place to raise the academic standard of the school and it’s ranking as one of the worst universities in Ghana.
Webometrics ranks Spiritan University College as the 76th best university in Ghana and the 24163rd best in the world. AD Scientific Index gives the university an even worse ranking as the 81st best university in Ghana out of 82 ranked universities and the 22829th best in the world.
6. MARSHALLS UNIVERSITY
Marshalls University began to operate as a tertiary institution on 1st September 2012. It is affiliated with the University of Cape Coast, Ghana, and is located at Odorkor in Accra.
Marshalls offers business courses, fashion, languages, arts and social sciences, and Information Communication Technology courses. Marshall University espouses a practical approach to learning, it is therefore surprising that they find themselves among the worst universities in Ghana.
Marshalls University’s vision is to be a unique institution that produces devout, well-grounded, well-rounded persons who respond to the current and future needs of humanity. This vision will be reached sooner when the university improves the quality of tuition, facilities, and the quality of lecturers to improve its overall ranking.
Marshalls University is the 73rd best university in Ghana and the 22936th best in the world according to Webometrics.
7. KINGS UNIVERSITY COLLEGE
Kings University College (KUC) is a private university established in February 2009 and was accredited by the National Accreditation Board (NAB) of Ghana in January 2010. It is institutionally affiliated to the University of Cape Coast, Ghana. Kings University College has a main campus in Accra
Kings University College offers courses in business, law, governance, international relations, computer science and engineering. The University at present has a student population of six hundred and fifty (650) on two campuses.
Webometrics ranks Kings University College as the 71st best university in Ghana and the 22667th best in the world. This makes it one of the lowest-ranking universities in Ghana.
AD Scientific Index ranks Kings University College as the worst university in Ghana, the 82nd (of 82) best university in Ghana and the 22870th best in the world.
8. JAYEE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE
Jayee University College is a private university founded by Mr J E Donkoh in 1998. Although it began as a secretarial school it’s now accredited to run Diploma courses in Journalism and Business Administration.
The university is currently located at Kasoa in Accra and is affiliated with the University of Education, Winneba. Jayee believes itself as recognized internationally as the best tertiary institution in management and journalism in Ghana, which is very far from the truth. The university is rather seen as one of the worst universities in Ghana with a very low ranking internationally.
Jayee University College is ranked as the 70th best university in Ghana and the 22667th best in the world by Webometrics. As a university accredited since 2008 to run 4-year degree programs, this ranking does not bode well for its students.
9. ENSIGN GLOBAL COLLEGE
Ensign Global College is a private university located at Kpong along the banks of the Volta River. It has a beautiful state-of-the-art 50-acre campus with a conference center, classrooms, computer lab, library, auditorium, and covered outdoor space.
This not-for-profit academic institution was founded and supported by Lynette and Robert Gay who seek to inspire leadership, entrepreneurship and professionalism for learners. Ensign Global College offers a one-year Master of Public Health degree program, and an executive education series, catering to professionals seeking to augment their leadership skills and broaden their strategic perspective.
Ensign Global College has a lot to work on to advance its mission of educating entrepreneurial leaders. This is because it has one of the lowest rankings among all the universities in Ghana.
Ensign Global College is the 68th best university in Ghana and the 22581st best in the world.
10. KAAF UNIVERSITY COLLEGE
KAAF University College is a private institution that extends its contributions beyond the confines of the classroom, encompassing community engagement, research initiatives, and a commitment to societal development. It is located at Kasoa in Accra. Kaaf University College holds the distinction of being the first private university in Ghana to offer engineering courses.
The university’s curriculum is diverse, spanning health and allied sciences, business and law. KAAF boasts of providing quality education facilitated by a faculty of experts and professionals. It also boasts of a conducive environment for learning, equipped with state-of-the-art facilities and resources to support academic and extracurricular activities. It is therefore very surprising to find KAAF University among the worst universities in Ghana.
KAAF University College has a lot more to accomplish to realize its vision of becoming a world-class tertiary institution. Currently, as it stands, it needs to improve in all areas before marketing itself as one of the premier private universities in Ghana. This will go a long way in improving its ranking in Ghana and internationally.
Webometrics ranks KAAF University College as the 67th best university in Ghana and the 22072nd best university in the world. This is certainly not the ranking of a ‘beacon of academic excellence in Ghana’ as the university’s website will have us believe.
DISCLAIMER: These rankings are based on sources from Webometrics and EDUrank and not on the writer’s personal opinion. These rankings change over time and the ranking of any of these universities may improve, remain the same or worsen with time. Organizations that rank these universities update their rankings every year and patstune will also update this article when the sources are updated.
Sources:
Webometrics: https://www.webometrics.info/en/africa_es/ghana?sort=asc&order=Excellence%20Rank%2A
AD scientific index: https://www.adscientificindex.com/university-ranking/?s=75&country_code=gh
EduRank: https://edurank.org/geo/gh/