LIFE AND STANDARD OF LIVING IN LADOKE AKINTOLA UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY (LAUTECH)

Getting familiar with the University

University experience

It might be your first taste of independence, or maybe you’re taking a few years off work to gain a qualification. Whatever your situation, university is a great place to make new friends and broaden your horizons. If you are thinking about going to university, it’s probably because you want to get a qualification that will lead to a better job.

Explore LAUTECH

Being a student at LAUTECH is not just about getting a degree from a recognized institution for being the best state university: it’s about the whole ‘LAUTECH experience’ which the students enjoy and benefit from.

The Ogbomoso campus is LAUTECH’s original site, founded in 1991 and it’s still growing and evolving. Modern buildings are surrounded by open green spaces, courtyards, gardens, flowers and woodland and the view across the campus all help to make it an attractive and friendly campus.

The campus is self-contained, which means that you are usually within walking distance of all the excellent facilities on offer ranging from: the sport centre, the student union building, library, the medical centre, the computing service, the campus shop and bookshop, banks and cash-points, bus-stops. There is a variety of eating facilities, including traditional dining halls, so you can take your offer to suit your taste and pocket. You can also buy drinks from shops across the campus.

What is student life like?

Sport

The Sport Centre operates a sport for all policy to encourage everybody to keep fit and healthy nearly half the population at the University is registered Sports Centre users. You can enjoy real benefits whether you are a recreational user or a serious athlete. The sport Centre is at the heart of the LAUTECH campus and offers some of the best student sports facilities. They include: Gym Centre, Basketball Court, Football Pitch, Lawn Tennis Court, and so on.

The city of Ogbomoso

Ogbomoso city is only 20 minutes walk away, or on a direct bus route. It’s a small city with warm and friendly atmosphere within easy reach of all other cities in the country. The city has a huge multicultural population, so there are people to meet from all walks of life. The town has vibrant social scene, there is plenty of culture, and sport lovers are well served, too. Students at LAUTECH come from all over the federation. There are approximately 18,000 students in LAUTECH.

Accommodation

One of the best aspects of becoming a student is the opportunity to live independently. Living away from home is fun, but it can take a little getting used to it. LAUTECH is a non-residential University, which means they don’t provide hostel accommodation. Hostel can be acquired by renting one outside the campus. The price range from one location to the other i.e. it is more costly in school area than in town. The hostel ranges from single room to self-contain and flat.

How much does it cost?

Student finance is an incredibly complex area, and varies with the individual circumstances of each person. Therefore this advice is a very broad general guideline. Please note that all costs quoted below are for 2010 unless stated otherwise, and were correct at the time of writing this article.

Tuition fee

The breakdown of the school fee is listed below:

        

Note: The amounts are all in Nigerian Naira

Accommodation

Accommodation in LAUTECH varies extensively because the school is not a residential University, so the available accommodation is off-campus. The price varies from place to place depending on where you choose to live, the price are summarized below:

A room     from        N8,000      to             N30,000

Self contain  from    N40,000     to             N70,000

Flat          from       N50,000     to             N150,000

Food

The amount you spend on food can vary according to what sort of accommodation you live in and personal taste. Due to the fact that LAUTECH is not a residential school, then you must buy all your own food by yourself. An average cost could be between N2,500 and N10,000 per week.

Clothes, laundry and personal hygiene

I recommend allowing N1,000 per week for laundry costs plus 500 per week for personal items, although the amount spent on personal items in particular varies widely from individual to individual.

Academic books, equipment and other material

Again, this varies widely, partly depending on what course you are taking, but it includes not only books but also computer printer outs and photocopying costs. You should probably allow N200 per week on average, although the bulk of this expenditure usually comes in the first semester as you buy books for the year. You can reduce costs in lots of areas by buying second-hand books.

Socializing and entertainment

I suggest about N1,500 – N2,500 per week. Of course you can spend much more (or less!) depending on how much you like to go out and where you like to go. As a rough guide a bottle of beer in some bars costs N170 and a plate of pepper-soup costs N500, but these prices can vary according to type of beer or pepper-soup and location.

Travel

Normally you have two types of travel costs: daily costs and costs for traveling home or away on visits.

Students living around the campus do not normally incur daily travel costs, as everything is within walking distance. If you are living in town, your travel cost will vary depending on distance, the time you travel and the numbers of days you need to attend your course. If you don’t have a car, then all your travel will be on public transport.

For students living around the campus, I suggest their transport fair per week can be limited to zero or N450 basically on public bike. For students living in town, their own expenditure varies a lot; it depends on their location in town. If you like to take public bike, then I can’t determine your expenditure accurately but I suggest N850 – N1,700 per week. In the case of taxi cab, it’s N560 to and fro for 7 days.

Other expenditure costs

This isn’t an exhaustive list of costs you may need to meet during your time at the University. But it’s advisable that you set aside certain sum of money per week for emergencies.

Financial support

There are numerous financial support ranging from scholarship award from companies in Nigeria, scholarship award from state government, scholarship award from federal government, bursary allowance, and so on.

The bursary allowance is paid every year by the state government someone belongs to and the amount of money paid is different from state to state depending on the state someone hails from.

To qualify for scholarship award, someone must attain certain minimum CGPA without which you will not be able to qualify for the award. All the available scholarship awards are pasted on notice board all around the campus.

Entry requirement

LAUTECH offers admission in: Pre-degree programme, Degree (undergraduate), and Post-graduate.

Pre-degree

All applicants must possess minimum of five credits in O’level (ordinary level) including English language and Mathematics and any other three science subject.

Degree (undergraduate)

A cut off mark of 200 must be obtained in UTME (University and Tertiary Matriculation Examination) and five credits in O’level including English Language and any other three science course.

Post-graduate

All applicants must have completed their degree programme successfully with minimum of pass.