How to apply to a university in Ghana
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Say you have your results, or are about to, and a few Ghanaian institutions are on your list. Before you look at any form, you need two answers: is each institution recognised, and what exactly does it ask of you?
This article helps you decide where to apply and what to prepare. It starts with how to check an institution, then covers foreign certificates, and ends with the University of Ghana as a worked example of requirements, fees and dates. Ghana has no single national application, so each institution sets its own rules.
Check that the institution is accredited
The Ghana Tertiary Education Commission (GTEC) was created by the Education Regulatory Bodies Act, 2020, and its mission includes accreditation and quality assurance. Its homepage shows lists of accredited institutions, unaccredited institutions, unaccredited centres and unrecognised institutions. When we opened it, the accredited list held 324 institutions and the unaccredited list 26.
So the check is simple and comes before any payment: find the institution on the GTEC lists. If you cannot find it, or the page is unclear, GTEC says you can contact it to confirm the status; its office is open Monday to Friday, 8:00 to 17:00. The contact details are on its homepage.
If your certificate is from another country
A foreign certificate does not automatically tell an institution what level you have reached. GTEC's Credential Evaluation Service evaluates local or foreign certificates, diplomas and degrees and issues a report on how each compares within the Ghanaian system. According to the service's page, the fee is GH¢ 307.00 for a foreign certificate and GH¢ 120.00 for a local one.
The service does not evaluate result slips, attestation letters, certificates of participation, courses from unfinished programmes, or individual course grades. If you only hold a result slip, ask the institution what it accepts before you pay for an evaluation. The steps are to apply through the service, pay the fee, and wait while GTEC may verify the credential with the institution that issued it.
What entry requirements look like: the University of Ghana
Entry rules are specific, so it helps to see one set in full. For Ghanaian applicants to degree programmes, the University of Ghana asks for credit passes in English, Core Mathematics, Integrated Science or Core Science, and Social Studies, plus credit passes in three electives. A credit is A1 to C6 in the WASSCE. For regular admission, the aggregate of six subjects must total no more than 24, and the university says distance education allows 30.
Which six subjects count depends on your track. On the science track, Social Studies is left out and three science electives are counted. On the non-science track, Integrated Science is left out and three General Arts or Business electives are counted.
Programmes can add conditions on top. For example, the university says B.Ed. Computer Science needs C4 or better in both Core Mathematics and Elective Mathematics. Applicants with Cambridge qualifications need three relevant A Level subjects and at least five O Level passes including English and Mathematics. Because the page lists only some programmes, read the page for your own programme.
Fees and steps for international applicants
International applicants follow a different route. According to the University of Ghana, you pay a non-refundable application processing fee of US$55.00, scan your pay-in slip or bank receipt together with your certificates or result slips as PDFs, and upload them to the application portal. The page states that no application is processed without proof of payment.
This is why a family should check the payment route on the institution's own page before sending money. The university lists its accepted methods, including bank transfer and credit card, and the page does not say what happens if a payment fails. If that happens, ask the university.
Dates differ by category
For the 2026/2027 year, the University of Ghana shows undergraduate applications opening on 16 April 2026 for every category. The closing dates differ: 24 July 2026 for selected College of Health Sciences programmes such as MBChB, 21 August 2026 for diploma to degree applicants and Ghanaians with a foreign background, and 8 September 2026 for Ghanaian applicants to all other programmes. International applicants had no closing date yet.
Dates change each year, so treat these as an example of the pattern, not as your deadline. If you are comparing systems, how admission works in Africa shows how other countries organise applications, and if funding is part of your plan, types of scholarships is a good place to start.