Faculty at Liberia’s 9 Universities, Colleges Numbers 1,137

MONROVIA – The Director-General of the National Commission on Higher Education (NCHE), Dr. Michael P. Slawon, says his Commission has tallied 1,137 faculty and teaching staff at the nine recognized universities and colleges in Liberia.

The statistics were released February 1 at the NCHE’s offices during an interaction with reporters in Monrovia.

Of that number, Slawon said, 1,000 are males, while 137 are females.

Also of that number, 453 are baccalaureate degree holders – 412 of whom are males and 41 of whom are females.

He added that of the 585 faculty members with masters degrees, 526 are males and 59 females.

Those holding terminal degrees in Liberia’s colleges and universities number 66. Of that number, 61 are males and five females.

Slawon reported that a total of 331 faculty members are assigned at the University of Liberia (UL), of which 304 are males and 27 are females.

The general student population attending the nine recognized degree-granting institutions is numbered at 31,304, Slawon told reporters. Of that number, 19,859 are male students, while 11,445 are females.

Not surprisingly, the UL carries the highest student population, being situated in Monrovia, the nation’s capital and most populous city. Of its 17,620 students 13,009 are males and 4,611 females.

The African Methodist Episcopal University (AMEU) on Camp Johnson Road, also in Monrovia, comes in at a distant second, with a student population numbering 3,432 students. Of that number, 1,516 are males and 1916 females.

At United Methodist University (UMU) on Ashmund Street, the student population is put at 3118, with 1,358 males and 1,760 females, while the African Methodist Episcopal Zion University (AMEZU) on Benson Street has 2,325 students – 1,077 males and 1,248 females.

The Bong County-based Cuttington University (CU) has 2,287 students, 1,233 of whom are males and 1,054 of whom are females.

Stella Maris Polytechnic, Slawon said has 2,090 students – 1,324 males and 766 females. Tubman University in Maryland County has 288 students, of which 219 are males and 69 are females.

The African Bible University College in Yekepa, Nimba County, has the least number of students. Of the 65 students, 53 are males and 12 females.

The statistics released, Slawon said, represent the faculty and student population in 2009.

According to these statistics, the student-teacher ratio in Liberia is 27:1.

Particularly telling is the disparity between male and female faculty. Only 12 percent of Liberia's faculty are women, while 88 percent are men. This may also reveal part of the reason why the practice of sex-for-grades is so prevalent in the country.