The Federal University of Technology, Babura in Jigawa State has turned two of Nigeria’s least popular university subjects into a recruitment priority, offering newly admitted students a full waiver of tuition and school fees for B.Sc Mathematics and B.Sc Physics.
The decision goes beyond a conventional scholarship. The university is using the price of education to try to solve a deeper problem: getting more young Nigerians into the scientific disciplines that underpin engineering, computing, research and industrial development.
The university said the waiver applies for the duration of study and takes effect in the current admission cycle.
Candidates who initially selected another course or institution can also seek to benefit by changing their institution and course to FUT Babura through a JAMB Computer-Based Test centre, provided they meet the admission requirements.
Why Mathematics and Physics?
Mathematics and Physics occupy an unusual position in Nigerian higher education.
They are foundational subjects for engineering, computing, physical sciences, quantitative research and many technology-intensive industries, yet they do not attract the same level of undergraduate demand as professional or technology-branded courses such as medicine, computer science, cybersecurity and software engineering.
FUT Babura’s own recent enrolment figures illustrate the problem. At its 2024/2025 matriculation, only one student was recorded in Physics and nine in Mathematics, compared with 98 in Computer Science, 100 in Cyber Security and 89 in Software Engineering. The university matriculated 636 students across its programmes that year.
That imbalance helps explain why a blanket fee waiver for Mathematics and Physics can be more than a publicity exercise. The university is attempting to redirect demand towards disciplines that have traditionally struggled to compete for students.
A young university trying to build a niche
FUT Babura is itself part of Nigeria’s relatively recent attempt to expand specialised higher education.
The university was among four specialised federal universities approved in 2021 as part of a government effort to expand access and strengthen science, technology and other strategic fields.
It began operating from a temporary site at Jigawa State College of Remedial and Advanced Studies while developing a permanent campus on more than 600 hectares in Babura.
Its School of Science, Information and Communication Technology was established in 2022 and includes departments covering applied mathematics and applied physics alongside computer science, chemistry and biology.
That makes the new scholarship particularly relevant to the university itself.
FUT Babura is not simply trying to add two popular courses to its prospectus; it is attempting to establish a science and technology identity while still building its student population.
Nigeria’s bigger problem is not simply access
Making university free does not automatically create scientists.
Nigeria’s challenge runs from secondary-school preparation to university teaching, laboratory infrastructure, research funding and the ability of graduates to find attractive technical careers at home.
A World Bank assessment of Nigeria’s labour market found mathematics among the frequently demanded cognitive skills in job postings, alongside research, economics, quality assurance and analytical skills.
It also identified problem-solving, critical thinking and innovation among prominent higher-order cognitive requirements.
That creates a paradox for Nigerian education policy. The economy increasingly needs quantitative and technical skills, while many prospective students gravitate towards courses they believe offer a clearer route into employment.
A Mathematics or Physics degree can therefore be academically valuable without appearing financially attractive to a teenager choosing a university course.
The Babura initiative tackles only one part of that calculation: the cost of obtaining the degree.
The university has tried a similar approach before
The current announcement is not the first indication that FUT Babura has used fee relief to encourage science enrolment.
In an earlier university bulletin, management described students as receiving tuition-free education while explaining that some payments represented charges for services and facilities. The bulletin also recorded students asking management to reduce what they described as school fees.
The new policy is broader in its stated terms. The university now says beneficiaries of the Mathematics and Physics initiative will receive a 100% waiver of tuition and school fees throughout their studies.
Prospective students should nevertheless confirm the exact financial terms directly with the admissions office before making a change of institution, particularly because universities can distinguish between tuition and other charges in their fee structures.
What applicants need to know
FUT Babura’s published admission information shows that Mathematics and Physics are undergraduate programmes within its science school.
For the 2025/2026 admission cycle, the university listed a minimum UTME score of 150 for both programmes, together with the required secondary-school credits.
The university’s 2026 admission information indicates that applications for the current admission cycle are open, with registration scheduled to run until September 30, 2026.
The free-fee announcement also creates an unusual second route for applicants who have already made another choice.
Someone who selected another university or programme but satisfies the requirements for Mathematics or Physics at FUT Babura does not necessarily have to abandon the admission cycle. The university says such candidates can change their institution and course at a JAMB CBT centre.
That makes the announcement potentially more consequential than a scholarship restricted to students who had already chosen Babura.
Why the policy matters beyond Jigawa
There is a broader lesson in the university’s decision.
Nigeria has spent years expanding the number of universities and increasing access to tertiary education. But increasing the number of places does not necessarily produce the mix of graduates an economy needs.
The next challenge is therefore less about getting students into universities and more about influencing what they study, where they study it and what happens to them after graduation.
That is why the choice of Mathematics and Physics is revealing. The university is effectively betting that one reason students avoid these disciplines is the combination of cost and uncertain career prospects.
Removing fees tests the first assumption.
It does not solve the second.
For the experiment to produce the scientists and technical professionals the university says Nigeria needs, free tuition would have to be followed by strong teaching, laboratories, research opportunities, links with industry and credible employment pathways.
That is the harder part.
FUT Babura’s own numbers suggest why. In its 2024/2025 cohort, the university attracted almost a hundred students to Computer Science and Cyber Security but just one to Physics and nine to Mathematics.
If the new waiver substantially changes those numbers, it could become a useful model for other Nigerian universities trying to steer students towards strategically important disciplines.
If it does not, it will demonstrate something equally important: for Nigerian students, the problem with studying Mathematics and Physics may not be tuition alone.
Prospective beneficiaries have been advised to contact FUT Babura’s admissions office to confirm eligibility, the change-of-course process and the precise terms of the waiver before switching their JAMB choices.
