The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has released the 10 most preferred universities for the 2026 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME).
The statistics, released during the 2026 policy meeting organised by the board in Abuja on Monday, May 11, showed that the top 10 most preferred universities attracted hundreds of thousands of first-choice applications from candidates across the country.
While LASU and the University of Lagos (UNILAG) maintained their first and second positions respectively, the University of Ilorin (UNILORIN), which was the third most preferred university in 2025, dropped four places to seventh position in the latest ranking.
An analysis of the 2026 UTME application statistics showed that the 10 most preferred universities attracted a combined total of 592,086 first-choice applications.
The ranking was overwhelmingly dominated by universities in the South-West, which produced five institutions on the list — Lagos State University (LASU), University of Lagos (UNILAG), Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), University of Ibadan (UI), and Federal University, Oye-Ekiti (FUOYE).
The South-East followed with two universities — Nnamdi Azikiwe University (UNIZIK) and the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN) — while the South-South also produced two institutions: the University of Benin (UNIBEN) and the University of Port Harcourt (UNIPORT).
University of Ilorin (UNILORIN), located in Kwara State, was the only institution in the Northern region to make the list.
Here are the top 10 most preferred universities and how they performed over the years:
10. University of Port Harcourt (UNIPORT), Rivers State — 48,199 applications
9. Federal University, Oye-Ekiti (FUOYE), Ekiti State — 48,272 applications
8. University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN), Enugu State — 51,660 applications
7. University of Ilorin (UNILORIN), Ilorin, Kwara State — 52,514 applications
6. Nnamdi Azikiwe University (UNIZIK), Awka, Anambra State — 54,085 applications
5. University of Benin (UNIBEN), Benin City, Edo State — 55,425 application
4. University of Ibadan (UI), Ibadan, Oyo State — 58,895 applications
3. Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife, Osun State — 60,370 applications
2. University of Lagos (UNILAG), Lagos State — 78,240 applications
1. Lagos State University (LASU), Ojo, Lagos State — 84,426 applications
