Which Is Better Between LASU And UNILAG

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Looking for a good university can be quite stressful, especially in a state like Lagos. It is known that some of the best universities in Nigeria are located in Lagos State, but picking the right one can be really hectic and tiring.

UNILAG and LASU, being the two major universities in Lagos State, have proven to be up to the task and haven’t stopped developing themselves just to get the title of the best university in Nigeria. The issue here is that both of them are good, but one will have to take the title of the best, and I know that is the reason why you are here.

I found out that most people who do research on topics related to this are aspirants, and I admire them because they don’t want to make mistakes that might cost them a lot. Either you are an aspirant or you just feel like knowing which is best between both universities, I will advise you to relax because I have complete answers to your question.

Without wasting much time, let’s get into the primary purpose of this article, which is to tell which is better between LASU and UNILAG.

Which is better, UNILAG or LASU?

To determine which is better, we will be comparing and contrasting so many factors. All you need to do now is take a deep breath and read through the article carefully so you can understand the information I am trying to pass on. Anyway, let us get started because we have a long way to go.

1 Admission Style

The admission style means the way they run their admission process. Despite the fact that LASU and UNILAG are both located in the same state, the way they give aspirants admission is quite different. How do I mean by that? For you to understand me better, I will be breaking my points down into three places.

i How difficult is it to gain admission?

The truth about it is that no university is actually easy to gain admission into presently, looking at the fact that the massive number of people trooping into the university is quite alarming, thereby making it hard for aspirants to secure admission for themselves. This can only be easy if you are aspiring to attend a private university that is hardly competitive.

However, even if both UNILAG and LASU are hard, one has to be harder than the other, and which exactly is that one? Let’s find out.

LASU, being a state university, is fond of favoring the indigenous people of Lagos State before considering other states. In other words, those who hail from Lagos State and applied to LASU have a higher advantage of gaining admission first compared to non-Indigens.

UNILAG, being a federal university, is known for giving admission to everyone once they meet the specific departmental cut-off mark. Though they have departmental cut-off marks for those in the catchment area, the difference between the cut-off marks for those in the catchment area and those from other states is very slim.

So for this aspect of how hard it is to gain admission, LASU should be a very good choice for you if you hail from Lagos State. But if you don’t hail from Lagos State, UNILAG should be a very good choice for you only if you can meet up with their departmental cutoff mark.

NOTE: LASU accept people from other states so don’t get me wrong.

ii Admission Examination

To get admitted to these two universities, you will have to pass certain examinations before you can be considered. These exams include O-level, UTME, and even post-UTME. Now let me take my time to explain these one by one.

O-level simply means exams like SSCE, GCE, and NECO; we can refer to all these exams as O level. UTME is a CBT examination conducted every year by the joint admission and matriculation board, also known as JAMB. Then, lastly, post-UTME, which is of two types known as post-UTME screening and post-UTME exams.

The post-UTME exams and screening are conducted by the school you are aspiring for, in which the score will be added to your UTME and O-Level level score, and when you meet the required aggregate, you will be admitted.

UNILAG, being a federal university, conducts only the post-UTME examination, which will be written some months after your UTME examination. LASU, being a state university, conducts the post-UTME screening exercise, which is done online. This simply means that instead of writing an examination, only your UTME and O’Level results will be added, and the result will determine if you will be admitted or not.

So if you prefer writing an exam after your UTME, then UNILAG should be better for you, but if you don’t feel like writing any further examinations after your UTME, then LASU should be better for you.

I have also discovered that the post-UTME screening favors those with good O’Level results while the post-UTME examination favors those who had a bad O’Level result, meaning that they will get another chance to get a good grade in their post-UTME exam just to balance and boost up their aggregate.

This simply means that if your O’Level results are bad, then UNILAG should be good for you because you will still write an examination and will get another opportunity to do well, so it can help your aggregate, but if you have very good O’Level results, then LASU should be better for you.

iii Transparency

For this aspect of transparency, I will admit that UNILAG is more transparent compared to LASU. What do I mean? Before UNILAG starts their admission process after conducting their post-UTME exam, they will release the departmental cutoff mark for all courses, so you will know if you will eventually be admitted or not and also know your stand.

But LASU won’t do that; they will only conduct a screening exercise after you write your UTME exam and give you your aggregate. After seeing your screening aggregate, all you have to do is sit down and pray you will get admitted because they don’t release anything like departmental cut-off marks.

2 Ranking

Comparing the two universities based on their current rankings is one of the easiest ways to know which of them is better. UNILAG and LASU have been doing great for some years now and have attained several rankings in Nigeria and even in Africa as a whole.

What is LASU’s latest ranking?

In Nigeria	13th
Africa	83th
World Ranking	3,080th

What is UNILAG’s latest ranking?

In Nigeria	4th
Region Ranking	36th
World Ranking	1,857th

From the table above, you can clearly see that UNILAG is better than LASU in terms of ranking. If you are interested in the one that is ranked higher, then you should go for UNILAG.

NOTE: This information was gotten from the Ad Scientific Index.

3 ASUU strikes

This article won’t be complete if we don’t talk about strike action. UNILAG, being a federal university, is under ASUU, so they go on strike from time to time, which ends up having an effect on their academic calendar. But LASU, being a state university, is not under ASUU, so they don’t go on strike, thereby making their academic calendar fast. In fact, LASU is ahead of so many federal universities in Nigeria. What do I mean by that?

If LASU is presently in their second semester, that is probably when most federal universities will start their first semester. This happened because they went on strike, so their academic activities had to pause while LASU continued with theirs.

So for this aspect of ASUU, LASU is better because they don’t go on strike, thereby making your stay in school less than 4 years. I knew of one of my friends who studied at UNILAG and has graduated already, but before he graduated, he spent over 5 good years and some months instead of 4 years because of the ASUU strike.

What am I saying, in essence? If you are scared of a strike being called at any time while you are in school, then LASU should be better for you. But all I know is that no one wants their stay in school to be extended. That’s why most aspirants prefer a university that is not under ASUU, like LASU.

4 Population

For this aspect of the population, LASU seems to be ahead of UNILAG. Although, UNILAG was ahead before, LASU overtook them in this aspect of population recently.

In fact, over 70,080 candidates selected LASU as their first choice of institution, making them the most sought-after university in 2025 according to the latest JAMB stats.

As of last year, LASU was the 2nd and now the first, with UNILAG being the second, with over 58,645 selecting them as their first choice, which is less compared to that of LASU. And because of this, their population has risen so fast already, as almost every aspirant now wants to study in LASU.

5 Infrastructure

In the late 1990s, federal universities like UNILAG were believed to have good infrastructure compared to LASU because it was managed by the federal government. This is true in the sense that LASU, being a state university, didn’t put so much effort into building infrastructure, making UNILAG top.

But presently, things are not the same as usual. I personally drafted out time to visit both universities, and what I saw really amused me. LASU is not the same as they always say; all I saw were new buildings and more being built with enough equipment for learning. UNILAG also added more and refurbished those that were looking old already; they also bought more equipment to aid learning activities.

For this reason, we can’t really judge which is better in this aspect of infrastructure because both universities are doing excellently well. So if you are looking for the one with good infrastructure as an aspirant, feel free to select any since they are both equal.

6 Academics

UNILAG and LASU are good in terms of academics, have a good reputation, and are still maintaining that standard to date. Both universities have produced many great people and several celebrities as well.

How about the list of courses they offer? LASU offers over 76 total courses, while UNILAG offers 99 total courses. In addition, UNILAG is known for being good at medicine, while LASU is known for being good at law.

However, if you are interested in looking at their academic reputation before making any of them your first choice, you should understand that both universities have a good reputation, so feel free to choose any of them you feel is best for you. But in terms of courses, UNILAG is better because they offer more courses compared to LASU.

7 Extracurricular Activities

One thing I love about universities in Lagos State is that they still draft out time to perform extracurricular activities like sports and even go to competitions with other schools. UNILAG and LASU are not left out as both have fancy sports activities; in fact, both universities have a section on their campuses called the Sport Center.

Do you love sports? Are you interested in picking a university where you can participate in all these extracurricular activities? If so, then you shouldn’t bother thinking anymore; all you need to do is select the one that you feel is best as your first choice since both value sports activities.

8 Landscape

LASU is arguably bigger than UNILAG in terms of landscape. In fact, LASU occupies an area of about 13,000 hectares, while UNILAG has 802 acres of land. In addition, LASU has three different campuses at different locations, with the main campus being at OJO, the second at Epke, and the last at Ikeja.

These 3 campuses are for students in different departments since the main campus in OJO can’t really occupy everyone due to the massive crowd. Nevertheless, if you are interested in the one with the biggest landscape, then LASU should be better for you. You should also understand that UNILAG is surrounded by a lagoon and has more chances of expanding in the years to come.

9 School Fees

The truth here is that an average student in Nigeria would always want to go for an institution with affordable school fees. So the question here is, between UNILAG and LASU, who pays cheaper school fees? Let’s talk about that.

LASU school fees

Generally, the school fees for LASU is ₦90,000 excluding medical students who pays more. Now I know you might have somehow heard about stream 1 and stream 2 in LASU and be wondering why I didn’t include it.

Well, the thing here is that on Friday, November 15th, 2024, LASU made a decision to scrap the Stream 2 entrepreneurship programme due to several reasons they find valid.

Initially, students in stream 2 do pay ₦180,000 but since there is no more stream 2 for now, all students will now be paying the same amount for school fees which is ₦90,000.

UNILAG school fees

Going straight to the point, you should know that UNILAG’s school fees are not fixed, as they vary across different departments. Some departments pay a lesser amount (less than ₦100,000), while some pay more (more than ₦100,000), especially those in the faculty of sciences.

And for this reason, I can’t really put a fixed price for UNILAG’s school fees like I did for LASU.

So from the information above, I would say that LASU is cheaper compared to UNILAG, which makes them top UNILAG in this aspect. This is because LASU school fees are fixated at ₦90,000 excluding the medical students, while UNILAG’s school fees vary across different departments, in which most of them are paying more than ₦100,000.

10 Academic Calendar

In terms of academic calendar, I must say that LASU is better than UNILAG in this aspect. LASU has a very fast academic calendar and students there tend to graduate even before the 4 years that they are supposed to spend in the school.

FAQs

Is UNILAG better than LASU?

If you truly read through the article carefully, you will find out that both universities are better than themselves in one way or another. However, it’s best that you make the decision yourself, using the factors I listed above as guidance.

How many campuses does LASU have?

LASU has three campuses: the first in OJO, which is tagged as the main campus; the second at Epke; and the last at Ikeja.

Does LASU offer medicine and surgery?

Yes, but it’s not common like that of UNILAG because their intake for that department is low.

Does LASU go on strike?

No, LASU doesn’t go on strike as they are not under ASUU.

Does UNILAG go on strike?

Yes, UNILAG go on strike because they are under ASUU.

Can a non-indigen gain admission to LASU?

Yes, why not? LASU accepts aspirants from all states in Nigeria but tends to favor their indigenes during admission.

Is LASU bigger than UNILAG?

Yes, LASU has a landscape of about 13,000 hectares, while UNILAG has a landscape of 802 acres. Aside from that, LASU has three different campuses: one in Ojo, the other at EPKE, and lastly, IKEJA.

Is LASU the best university in Nigeria?

No, LASU is not the best university in Nigeria. However, they are the best state university in Nigeria.

What rank is LASU in Nigeria?

LASU is ranked the 13th-best university in Nigeria.

What rank is UNILAG in Nigeria?

UNILAG is ranked the 4th best university in Nigeria.

Is LASU and UNILAG the Same ?

Definitely not, as they are two different universities. They are both located in Lagos State, and that doesn’t make them the same.

Conclusion

I hope you enjoyed this article. I’m very sure you did, but just in case you have any opinions on this topic, kindly drop them in the comment section below. Also, if you have any questions concerning this article or the institution (LASU and UNILAG), don’t hesitate to ask them in the comment section below, and I will give you answers right away. Thanks for reading this article. Have a nice day.