Title: Social demand and the supply of university education in Nigeria: the relevance of Fields' proposition

Authors: Bola Funmilayo Satope; S.I. Oladeji

Addresses: Department of Human Resource Development, College of Management and Social Science, Osun State University, Okuku Campus, P.M.B. 2008, Okuku, Osun State, Nigeria. ' Economics Department, Obafemi Awolowo University, P.M.B. 019, Ile-Ife, Osun State, A234, Nigeria

Abstract: The study investigates the basic factors responsible for rapid expansion in provision of university education between 1980-2008 in Nigeria. It analyses in particular, the extent to which Fields' proposition holds sway in this respect. The study used secondary data obtained from JAMB, NUC, the CBN Statistical Bulletin and Annual Abstract of Statistics from NBS. The ordinary least square (OLS) estimation technique was used to examine the extent to which social demand consideration had influenced the expansion in university education. The OLS result showed that the social demand significantly influenced the expansion in number of universities (t = 3.87, p < 0.05), confirming Fields' postulation. However, it showed that there were still other factors like population growth (t = 8.48, p < 0.05), job needs (t = 6.58, p < 0.05), and growth rate of the economy (t = 8.35, p < 0.05), which significantly affected the expansion of universities. The study concluded that the Fields' proposition was validated in the context of the Nigerian situation.

Keywords: social demand; economic development; excess demand; economic factors; universities; higher education; Nigeria; education supply; university expansion.

DOI: 10.1504/IJEED.2012.047111

International Journal of Education Economics and Development, 2012 Vol.3 No.2, pp.97 - 112

Published online: 23 Aug 2014 *

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