UG tuition fees will be abolished from January, announces President Ali

From January 2025, tuition fees at the University of Guyana (UG), the country’s premier institute of higher learning, will be abolished, President Dr. Irfaan said on Thursday.

The Head of State made this announcement during a special session of the National Assembly, where he announced a series of bold measures aimed at creating more disposable income for the population and tackling the rising cost of living.

“From the January 2025 semester, tuition fees will be completely abolished at the University of Guyana. This will continue the advancement of our human capital for a more prosperous future for our country and for all the young people who will benefit from this initiative and their families. This measure will immediately benefit more than 11,000 current students and of course all new entrants in the future,” said President Ali.

The provision of free higher education has been a hallmark of the Manifesto of the Popular/Civic Progressive Party (PPP/C).

“The future belongs to all these young people”, stated the Head of State.
This would cost more than $18 billion.

It was recently announced that, by the end of this year, the government will pay off more than $5 billion in student debt owed to UG.

At a recent press conference, People’s Progressive Party (PPP) Secretary-General Bharrat Jagdeo revealed that the government had successfully repaid $203.7 million in student loans so far.

This, he said, benefited approximately 346 students, noting: “It is anticipated that another 2,900 will also have their debts written off.”

Jagdeo went on to say that this would only cost about $5 billion. There is about $18 billion in student debt over the last 20 years with UG.

“The only condition for you to be eligible for this write-off is to be here in Guyana… I want to urge students who have outstanding debts to just apply for the write-off so we can get on with it,” the PPP general secretary said.

In May, the government announced Phase One of its plan to eliminate loans to UG students. The government said it would cancel all loans owed to Guyanese who could demonstrate that they completed their studies, graduated and worked in Guyana for a minimum period of three years.