Abstract:
The focus of this study is on the user fees and its implications for household in terms of the ability and
willingness to pay for the cost of higher education in Gombe State Nigeria. To this end, three research questions
were posed to address the focus of the study. The study’s population thus comprised households in Gombe State,
Nigeria. In all, the study sample comprised 300 households. A Questionnaire was used. Data analysis was through
simple frequency counts, percentages and chi square statistics. The results indicate that the average income of
households in Gombe State is 15, 330 Naira ($92.9) and 75.7% earn less than N50, 000 about $303 per month.
Considering that the average cost of graduate production in a year is estimated to be 78,000 naira ($472), the study
thus inferred that many households in Gombe State may not have the ability to pay for higher education. The study
thus suggests that government would need to continue to shoulder the responsibility of providing higher education
in Gombe State Nigeria and the need to explore other means of cost recovery and financing of HE in Gombe State
asides increment of user fees may need to be considered.
