An Overview Of Pharmacy In University Of Benin, UNIBEN

UNIBEN Logo

The University of Benin, Benin City, Edo state is the only pharmacy school accredited to award the Pharm. D. degree in Nigeria which span a period of six years. The school, also known as UNIBEN is a federal university whose history dates back to 1970 when it first started as an Institute of Technology. This was not for a long time before it became a university in 1971. It has two campus located at Ugbowo which is the main campus and Ekenwan.

The school of pharmacy, UNIBEN began operation in 1970 to cater for the mid-west states in Nigeria.
Read Also: Undergraduate And Postgraduate Courses Offered In Accredited Schools Of Pharmacy In Nigeria
Just like other pharmacy schools in Nigeria, mode of entry is through Joint Admission And Matriculation Board (J.A.M.B) Unitary Tertiary Matriculation Examination (U.T.M.E) and Direct entry.

JAMB UTME

Admission using JAMB will land the student into year one in school. The cutoff mark has remained constant over the years standing at 200 out of 400 in JAMB. Students who wish to study pharmacy in UNIBEN must buy their online POST UTME or screening form at the price of ₦2000 excluding other small charges. The examinations use to consist of 100 multiple-choice questions. However, this may not be the case today as there is a great change in the admission process of each school.
Successful students are admitted without releasing cut-off mark.

Direct Entry

A very common direct entry model in UNIBEN is the recently introduce Joint Universities Preliminary Examniations Board (J.U.P.E.B) programme. The student buys the entry form for a fee of ₦15000 after which an entrance examination of about 100 multiple-choice questions is set for the students. This is just a formality as the majority (if not all) of the students will be admitted into the programme.
All students pay an acceptance fee of ₦50000 before the beginning of lectures. School fees can be paid on instalment. The school fees is ₦150000.
The programme runs for two semesters. Each semester ends with an examination. The examination makes use of different question models accessing students’ knowledge. It covers all the subjects offered over few days period. The examination is organised by UNIBEN.
The final examination is organised by the JUPEB and make use of different questions model including practical.
The first examination contributes about 30 % to the overall score while the remaining 70 % comes from the final examination score.
The student will have to buy JAMB direct entry form. The next step in UNIBEN direct entry is the direct entry form for UNIBEN, which cost ₦2000. Students will have to write a CBT examination of 100 multiple-choice question, which may change anytime soon. Successful students will start year two. Direct entry is also open to other degree holders who wish to study pharmacy in UNBEN. They will also have to but UNIBEN direct entry for and follow the same process.

Admission Into UNIBEN Pharmacy

The first thing UNIBEN students pay is acceptance fee. For pharmacy students, the acceptance fee is ₦50000. School fees follow this, which is ₦50000. Lucky enough, there is no difference in school fees between indigenes and non-indigenes. Subsequent year’s school fees drop considerably to ₦14400. This is why my friend says the money spending in UNBEN is in year one.

UNIBEN Accommodation For Pharmacy

ON-Campus
There are different types of accommodation in UNIBEN. However, the accommodation approves for UNIBEN pharmacy student is the NDDC hostel which cost ₦26650. However, the hostel accommodation in UNIBEN is for only year one and final year students. Final year students will have to pay a reduced fee of ₦26450. The hall is close to the faculty of pharmacy.
Just like in any other school, I believe there are ways students can specify the hostel they prefer. Other UNIBEN accommodation is about ₦8150. All these prices if for a year or two semester.
Off-campus
Off-campus accommodation, which could be about 30 – 40 minutes’ walk from the school cost between ₦30000 - ₦50000 per year. They are mostly bed-sitter maybe without tiles.
The cost throughout the programme is same with other schools as the other things.

Admission Chances Into UNIBEN Pharmacy

UNIBEN admission is strictly base on merit. However, they also operate catchment area and Educated less developed area (E.L.D) policy during admission.
The number of students going for pharmacy in UNIBEN is very high yearly and the number admitted if far less than. For some years, about 3800 students apply for UNIBEN pharmacy out of which about 150 is given admission.

UNIBEN Pharmacy Postgraduate Programme

Their postgraduate courses are much. They offer Postgraduate diploma, Postgraduate masters in pharmacy, Masters in Philosophy in pharmacy and Doctor of Philosophy in various fields of pharmacy. I must not forget to mention the Pharm. D. conversion programme. A later post in this blog will focus on requirements for the Postgraduate course for pharmacy.
Because the number of students who apply for the postgraduate programme is very few, there is hardly an entrance examination in selecting students since the number of applicants is usually less thn 100. This cannot be guaranty at all times. When the students’ population applying exceed 100, an entrance examination is set for them as far as they all met admission requirements.

Pharm. D. Degree

For those who wish to enroll in the Pharm. D. degree, forms is sold for ₦12050. The form is submitted before admission. Those given admissions will have to pay an acceptance fee of ₦45000. School fees are around ₦120000. The course duration is 6 – 8 semesters.

Postgraduate Degree

The form for the postgraduate degree is also ₦125000. The form is submitted before admission time. The acceptance fee is also ₦50000.
For the aspect of school fees, the answer is a very dicey one. This is because different master’s degree has different school fees. However, the range is from ₦199500 for fresher down to about ₦120000 for old students.
Read Also: The Various Degrees Awarded In Pharmacy Schools
Course duration for each programme also varies. For postgraduate diploma, it takes about two academic semesters which is a year. For masters of pharmacy, it talks about 18 – 24 months. However, the programme duration for Master of philosophy is about 12 months. Doctor of philosophy takes a whole lot of 24 – 48 months depending on several factors.
The school is affiliated to University of Benin Teaching Hospital, (U.B.T.H), Benin City.
Motto: Knowledge for service
Website: www.uniben.edu
Portal: www.uniben.waeup.org
Facebook page: UNIBEN
Facebook group: UNIBEN
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