Alex Kwaku Asafo-Agyei, Registrar, Ghana Scholarship Secretariat
About 200 Ghanaian students at University of Memphis in the United States (US) are likely to return home if government fails to pay tuition arrears of $3.6 million by August 9, 2025.
President of University of Memphis, Bill Hardgrave, who disclosed this in an interview with News 5, said the students who are sponsored by the government may have been affected due to changes in administration.
He said, “I think there was a regime change in Ghana and that affected the budget, but we’re hopeful that gets corrected because we love to keep those students on campus.”
He also called on individuals and institutions willing to offer assistance to contact Gary Shorb International Student Support Fund.
Earlier this month, President of the Ghana PhD Cohort, Prince Bansah, in an interview on Joy FM’s Super Morning show also spoke about the difficulties facing most Ghanaian government-sponsored students in the United Kingdom (UK).
He described the situation as worrying and getting worse daily, adding that it is likely to affect Ghana’s diplomatic relations with the UK given the condition of the students.
“The reality on the ground is far more egregious than those snippets suggest, our colleagues have suffered beyond what words can capture,” he disclosed.
“Currently, stipends owed range from 8 to 36 months. Some students have not received a single payment in 36 months. For PhD candidates who have been here the full duration of three years, this means they have received nothing,” he stated.
According to him, the new registrar for the Scholarship Secretariat in May visited the UK and promised to start repayment of some arrears for University of Birmingham students following threats of protest by the students.
Mr. Bansah said the registrar, who later met most of the students and assured them of government’s intervention to start paying about 10% of the arrears owed as well as pay some of the stipends, has not yet fulfilled that promise.
“I can recall how some students were withdrawn last year and along with others we have to help shelter a few. But we cannot sustain support for most colleagues. The crisis is dire,” he added.
The Minority in Parliament, at a press conference by the Member of Parliament for Offinso North and a member of the Education Committee, Dr. Fred Kyei Asamoah, have also called on government to take immediate action to address the plight of the students, including threats of eviction, deportation among others due to unpaid tuition and living expenses.
By Ebenezer K. Amponsah