Tertiary Institutions and Human Capital Development in Nigeria: Do Private Institutions Matter?

Abstract

Given the growing challenge for governments to offer federal colleges and universities the necessary funding due to their alarming population, the rising costs of higher education and the escalating number of potential applicants in Nigeria, this paper investigates the link between tertiary institutions, private institutions and human capital development in Nigeria. This study is anchored on the labour-augmented theoretical framework of Mankiw, Romer, and Weil (1992) and Weil (2000) using the ARDL approach between 1990 and 2020. The findings reveal that tertiary institutions, particularly private institutions, matter in the discourse of Nigeria's human capital development. Specifically, the result shows that the short- and long-run estimation of the number of universities, the number of private universities, and private universities as a percentage of universities increase human capital development, contributing significantly to Nigeria’s stability, depth and access to education. However, school enrolment, population growth and labour force had adverse influences on the human capital development in different periods. Hence, the education system, as evidenced by school enrollment, has not been developed to build individual capacity towards semi-formal and informal skills and abilities. The study recommends that tertiary institutions' curricula be developed with an inclusive capacity for skills and abilities. Hence, the study concluded that private institutions matter in human capital development discourse.