University of Liberia

Key facts

Checked against the sources listed at the bottom of this page on 8 November 2026.

About the University of Liberia

The University of Liberia traces its start to a cornerstone laid on 25 January 1858 with donations from the New York Colonization Society and the Trustees of Donation for Education in Liberia. The institution was founded in 1862 as Liberia College, with Joseph Jenkins Roberts, Liberia’s first president, as its first president, and it opened in February 1863 with seven students.^[1] The college struggled and closed at least three times before it became a full university in 1951.^[1]

UL is a public institution funded mainly by the Government of Liberia.^[1] It has four campuses: Capitol Hill in Monrovia, Fendall, the Medical School at Fendall, and the Starz-Sinji campus in Sinji, Grand Cape Mount County.^[2] Wikipedia describes Fendall as about 14 miles northeast of Monrovia and says UL is accredited by Liberia’s National Commission on Higher Education.^[3] We did not find an accreditation statement on the university’s own pages.

How is the University of Liberia ranked?

We could not confirm a position for UL in the QS World University Rankings 2027, published on 18 June 2026. A Liberian fact-checking outlet wrote in November 2025 that neither QS nor Times Higher Education currently ranks UL, and gave reasons such as limited data submission and few Scopus-indexed publications.^[8] That statement predates the 2027 edition, so treat it as the latest evidence we found, not a check of the 2027 list.

The same article quotes two other measures: EduRank puts UL 5,851st of 14,131 universities worldwide and first in Liberia, and the AD Scientific Index (2025 edition) puts it 10,725th of 38,000 worldwide and 502nd of 1,542 in Africa.^[8] These systems use different methods and are not comparable with QS. How we compile rankings.

What can you study at the University of Liberia?

The university’s website lists these groups of programmes:^[2]

• Undergraduate: Liberia College of Social Sciences and Humanities, William V.S. Tubman College of Education, William R. Tolbert Jr. College of Agriculture and Forestry, A. Romeo Horton College of Business and Public Administration, Thomas J.R. Faulkner College of Science and Technology, College of Engineering, School of Midwifery and College of General Studies.
• MSc: including Gender and Security Studies, Regional Science, MBA/MPA, Educational Administration and Supervision, International Studies and Public Health.
• PhD: Gender and Security Studies, Virology, Immunology, Microbiology, Public Health, Epidemiology and Biostatistics.
• Professional: Louis Arthur Grimes School of Law and College of Health Sciences.

The site also lists research institutes, among them the Kofi Annan Institute of Conflict Transformation, and the David A. Starz-Sinje Technical and Vocational College.^[2] Check the college’s own page for current offerings before you apply.

How much does the University of Liberia cost?

The answer depends on a policy that is still being reviewed. On 24 October 2018 President George Weah declared undergraduate tuition free for UL and all other public universities in Liberia.^[4] In January 2025 UL president Layli Maparyan said the free-tuition initiative was undergoing a performance audit, after which she and the Board of Trustees would decide whether to keep it or adjust it.^[5]

In May 2026 a news report said UL students currently pay about US$15 in fees, and the president said fees will rise over time.^[10] After reports that registration fees could rise to LD$10,000, she said on her radio programme: “We are NOT raising student fees now or next semester.”^[6] We found no report of a final decision to end free tuition. Confirm the fee schedule with the registrar before you budget.

Application fees

Both fees are described as non-refundable. The undergraduate figure is printed as “($1, 500.00 LD)”; we read it as 1,500 Liberian dollars, but the page does not make that explicit.^[7] The graduate figures come from the graduate procedures page.^[9] Neither page gives a year for the fees. We did not find published tuition rates for graduate programmes on the pages we read.

How do you apply to the University of Liberia?

• Undergraduate: complete the online application, take the university’s entrance and placement exam (given in April and July), and check your status online. The page tells applicants to download the application schedules from the admissions portal; it does not print dates here.^[7]
• Documents: two passport-size photos; transcripts for grades 10 to 12 and a recommendation letter from your last school; a health certificate from a recognised hospital; a diploma and a WAEC or WASSCE certificate (or a GCE Advanced Level certificate); a copy of a national ID, passport or birth certificate; and the application fee receipt.^[7]
• Graduate: submit a biodata form from the Office of Enrollment Services with photos, transcript and diploma, three recommendation letters, a health certificate, a three-page statement of career objectives plus a CV, an ID copy and the fee receipt. After approval you get a student ID number, an E-Portal account created by an agent at your campus, and you pay fees by mobile money or at the bank.^[9]

Applications run through the UL admission portal. We give no deadlines because they change each year.

Which language level do you need?

The undergraduate and graduate admission pages do not state a language of instruction or an English test requirement.^[7][9] The entrance and placement exam is the university’s own selection step for undergraduates.^[7] If you are an international applicant, ask the Office of Enrollment Services whether proof of English is needed for your programme.

More about studying in Liberia

• Liberia: best universities
• Cost of Studying Abroad
• International Student Scholarships
• University Ranking Methodology

More university profiles in Liberia

• African Methodist Episcopal University
• Cuttington University
• United Methodist University