The Lagos State University (LASU) has overtaken the University of Ilorin (UNILORIN) as the most selected first-choice university for the 2025/2026 academic session.
This was disclosed on Tuesday, July 8, 2025, by the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) Registrar, Professor Ish-aq Oloyede, during the 2025 Policy Meeting held in Abuja.
According to him, while LASU emerged as the most preferred university in 2025, the University of Lagos (UNILAG) ranked with 58,645 applicants, while UNILORIN dropped to third place with 56,758 applicants.
UNILORIN had long maintained its appeal among Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) candidates, largely due to its uninterrupted academic calendar and minimal history of industrial action.
These factors set the university apart from other public tertiary institutions for applicants seeking higher education in the country.
In 2024, it topped the list of the most sought-after universities in the country for the 10th consecutive year.
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It was followed by the University of Lagos in second place, the Lagos State University in third place, and the Federal University, Oye-Ekiti, in fourth place.
Others are the University of Benin, 5th; University of Nigeria, Nsukka, 6th; Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, 7th; Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, 8th; Nigerian Defence Academy, Kaduna, 9th; and the University of Ibadan, 10th.
UNILAG, which took the second position in 2020 and 2021, fell to the third position in 2022. It has, however, regained what is seemingly its traditional second position in 2024 and the current admission process.
However, LASU, which appeared in the top 10 for the first time last year, has now shocked everyone by jumping to number one this admission season.