Top Ten Universities in Ghana

Today, we’ll take a look at the top and best universities in Ghana.

Ghana, a West African country is not only blessed with a rich, colourful and warm culture, the country also boasts of a very quality education system. Courses offered at various Ghanaian varsities have gotten a lot of international recognition over the years.

Before you check the list of the top universities in Ghana, we recommend you read the article below;

Recommended: Reasons Why You Should Study in Ghana

The aforementioned article would make you understand and be familiar with the Ghanaian education system and show you a snippet of the Ghanaian culture and things you would enjoy as a student in Ghana.

The universities were ranked by Webometrics Ranking of World Universities – a ranking system for the world’s universities based on a composite indicator that takes into account both the volume of the Web content (number of web pages and files) and the visibility and impact of these web publications according to the number of external links (site citations) they received. (Wikipedia)

We know is in human nature to always go for the best, this is why we present to you the best and top universities in Ghana. The universities are as follows:

Also See: Top Universities in Nigeria – University Ranking for 2020

Top Ten (10) Universities in Ghana

1. University of Ghana

The University of Ghana tops the list as the best university of Ghana for the year 2020. This institution happens to also be the oldest and largest of the thirteen Ghanaian national public universities. The premier university was founded in 1948 and was formerly called the University College of the Gold Coast (affiliated to the University of London).

The University of Ghana is situated on the West view of the Accra Legon hills and at the northeast of the centre of Accra. The university has three campuses; Legon campus (situated in north-east of Accra, the capital of Ghana), Korle-Bu campus, and Accra city campus (situated in the city centre). The university has various schools, institutions, colleges and departments and boasts of over 40,000 registered students.

2. Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology

Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) follows next, it also happens to be the largest university in the Kumasi Metropolis and in the Ashanti Region. In 2019, the university was ranked as the best university in Ghana and West Africa by the U.S News and World Report. KNUST is the first university in Western African to have won the 2018 and 2019 Pan African Universities Debate Championship consecutively.

The university is also the first university in Ghana to win the Ghana national rounds of the Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition for a record of three consecutive times. The university was established on 6^th October 1951 by a Government Ordinance. It was, however, opened on the 22^nd of January, 1952.

3. The University of Cape Coast

The University of Cape Coasts sits third on the list. This public collegiate research university located in Cape Coast, Ghana, was established in 1962. The university operates on two campuses; Southern Campus (Old Site) and the Northern Campus (New Site).

The University of Cape Coast has six colleges, namely; School of Physical Sciences, School of Biological Sciences, School of Agriculture, College of Distance Education (CoDE), College of Education Studies (CES), College of Humanities and Legal Studies (CHLS), College of Health and Allied Sciences (CoHAS), and also a School of Graduate Studies and Research.

4. University for Development Studies

The University for Development Studies is located in Tamale in the Northern Region of Ghana. The university was the fifth public university to be established in Ghana, the first public university in the North of Ghana, and it was established in the year 1992.

The University of Development Studies has four (4) campus, namely; Nyankpala (Northern Region, Ghana), Navrongo, (Upper East Region), Tamale (Northern Region, Ghana), and Wa (Upper West Region). University of Development Studies, mostly abbreviated as UDS runs both graduate and undergraduate programmes at the various campuses of University. The institution also runs community-outreach activities and research programmes.

5. University of Education Winneba

Situated in the Winneba, Central Region of Ghana, the University of Education Winneba (UEW) was established by a government ordinance in the year 1992 with a relationship with the University of Cape Coast. The university’s major aim is to train teachers for the education system of Ghana.

UEW has twenty-nine academic departments and centres, seven faculties and also 18 distance educational regional study centres throughout the country. In addition to its Winneba campus, where its administrative office is located, the university has three other campuses; Kumasi, Mampong, and Ajumako.

6. University of Mines and Technology Tarkwa

The University of Mines and Technology (UMaT) was first established as the Tarkwa Technical Institute in 1952. The named was changed to Tarkwa School of Mines in 1961, to help train manpower for the mining industry in Ghana. In 1976, UMaT became a faculty of Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST).

On 1^st October 2001, it was elevated to the university college status and was known as the Western University College of KNUST, and later became a fully-fledged university in November 2004. The university was later renamed to George Grant University of Mines and Technology in honour of Paa Grant. The university is the only such one in the West Africa sub-region for training high-level personnel in the mineral industry. The university offers courses in the Department of Geological Engineering, Department of Geomatic Engineering, Department of Mineral Engineering, Department of Petroleum Engineering, Department of Environmental and Safety Engineering, amongst others. These courses continue to attract students from other countries in the sub-region and across Africa.

7. Regent University College of Science and Technology

Regent University College of Science and Technology (Regent-Ghana) is a private university located in Accra. It was established in September 2003 and received accreditation to operate as a tertiary institution in 2004. The university now operates from its campus located at McCarthy Hill off the Mallam-Kasoa-Winneba Highway. It is recognized as one of the leading private science and technology Universities in Ghana.

The university is ranked as the best private University in Ghana in the July 2020 edition of the Webometrics Ranking of University and 7^th University overall in Ghana.

8. Ashesi University

This private, non-profit university located in Accra was established in 2002. In 2012, Asheshi University was ranked by PwC as the seventh most respected organization in Ghana, becoming the first university to make the list. In 2020, the university was ranked first in Ghana and ninth in Africa in the world’s top 400 Global Times Higher Education University Impact Rankings.

The university offers a four-year bachelors programme grounded in a multidisciplinary core curriculum in majors such as Business Administration, Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Mechanical Engineering etc.

9. Ghana Technology University College

Ghana Technology University College (GTUC), formerly Ghana Telecom University College, sits at the 9^th position on the list. GTUC is a private university that was established in 2005. The university offers bachelors and graduate programmes particularly in Telecommunication Engineering and Information and Communications Technologies. The university also offers certificate programmes.

The main campus of the university is located in Tesano section of Accra, while the second campus is located nearby Abeka, a nearby Accra suburb and a satellite campus at Nungua. Apart from Accra, there are satellite campuses in Kumasi, Takoradi, Koforidua and Ho.

10. Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration

Founded in 1961, the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration, popularly abbreviated as GIMPA is a public university spread over four campuses; Accra, Tema, Kumasi and Takoradi. GIMPA is made up of four schools, four research centres located at Greenhill in Accra.

The university was established by the Government of Ghana with assistance from the United States Special Fund Project, intended as a specialist training graduate school for civil servants in Ghana. The institution now offers, bachelor’s, master’s and executive degree programmes in business administration, law, public administration, governance, development management, leadership, entrepreneurship, and technology.