By EARYEL BOWLEG

ebowleg@tribunemedia.net

EDUCATION Minister Jeffrey Lloyd announced in the House of Assembly that University of The Bahamas anticipates the institution’s enrolment will exceed 6,000 students this Fall.

According to Mr Lloyd, Bahamian students seeking to further their education abroad, particularly in the US, are changing their plans due to the pandemic.

“This year (for) the first time in its history, University of The Bahamas because of circumstances that now circulate across the global and particularly the United States of America where a number of our Bahamian students, totaling in the hundreds, would’ve previously gone for the extension of their educational experience and many of whom who are now refusing to go back because of the pandemic circumstances in the United States, it is anticipated, according to the officials of (UB), that the enrolment at the university this Fall will exceed 6,000 students,” Mr Lloyd said.

Foreign students pursuing a degree in America may face deportation as US media reports these students will have to leave the country if their universities transitioned to online-only learning. The news affects many Bahamians in the US possibly having to come back home to finish their classes.

Meanwhile, the minister also revealed the university will receive an overall total of some $49.2 million this budget year – highlighting it is some $11 million “higher than its highest peek in its history”.

This includes a total of $18.5 million for its tuition grant support - a $1.5 million increase compared to the 2019-2020 $17 million allocation.

Mr Lloyd explained that he wanted to clarify the financial status of UB after media reports on an alleged reduction in its budget. He said the institution’s overall support has increased by some $10 million since the government came into office in 2017 and the number of students, mostly full-time, attending the university has increased.

He added: “The budget year 2018-19, UB received a total of $38,559,074. At that time it (serviced) approximately 4,800 students. In 2019-20, it received a budget of $30,744,000 for its operation….”

He indicated the Bahamas Technical and Vocational Institution’s budget has been increased to expand its capabilities and technological offerings for that institution’s nearly 6,000 Bahamian students.