Are you planning to study for a Postgraduate Diploma, master’s degree, or PhD in the south-east? Then you should understand the FUNAI postgraduate school fees before you begin. Alex Ekwueme Federal University, Ndufu-Alike, Ikwo, popularly called AE-FUNAI, is a federal university in Ebonyi State, and its School of Postgraduate Studies publishes an official schedule of fees for new students. The schedule is straightforward: Category A covers the core session charges, with a total of ₦79,500 for PGD students and ₦104,500 for M.Sc. and PhD students, while Category B lists one-off and stage-based charges such as acceptance, defences, and convocation.
This guide reproduces the complete official fee structure for the 2026/2027 session, line by line, and explains clearly what each charge covers, how a typical programme adds up from application to graduation, and what changes for new and returning students. You will also find a detailed step-by-step payment procedure using the AE-FUNAI portal and Remita, advice on funding and payment arrangements, a comparison with earlier sessions, and practical tips for avoiding payment scams. We close with answers to the questions applicants ask most, so you can plan your budget early and with confidence and pay safely, correctly, and on time.
UNN Postgraduate School Fees 2026/2027: PGD, Masters and PhD Fee Breakdown and Payment Guide
About Alex Ekwueme Federal University Postgraduate School
Alex Ekwueme Federal University, Ndufu-Alike (AE-FUNAI) is a federal university in Ikwo, Abakaliki, Ebonyi State. Its School of Postgraduate Studies supervises Postgraduate Diplomas (PGD), master’s degrees (M.Sc.), and doctoral programmes (Ph.D.), and it publishes its own fee schedule, application process, and defence requirements.
Postgraduate applicants apply through the university portal, are screened, and, once admitted, pay an acceptance fee followed by the session charges. Because the fees are split into two clear categories, the FUNAI postgraduate school fees are easy to budget once you know what each category covers.
FUNAI Postgraduate School Fees Structure Overview
The official schedule has two parts:
- Category A (session charges): the core fees every new postgraduate student pays, which total ₦79,500 for PGD students and ₦104,500 for M.Sc. and Ph.D. students.
- Category B (other charges): screening, acceptance, research workshop, proposal, internal and final defence, convocation, field trip, transcripts, and similar charges that apply at specific points in your programme.
The difference between PGD and M.Sc./Ph.D. in Category A comes down to two lines: tuition (₦20,000 for PGD versus ₦35,000 for M.Sc./Ph.D.) and laboratory fees (₦10,000 versus ₦20,000). Everything else is identical. M.Sc. and Ph.D. students therefore pay ₦25,000 more than PGD students in the core fee.
FUNAI Postgraduate Fee Breakdown Table
Category A: Session Charges (New Students)
| S/N | Item | PGD (₦) | M.Sc. / Ph.D. (₦) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tuition | 20,000 | 35,000 |
| 2 | Medical Health Insurance | 5,000 | 5,000 |
| 3 | Registration | 5,000 | 5,000 |
| 4 | Examinations | 5,000 | 5,000 |
| 5 | Laboratory | 10,000 | 20,000 |
| 6 | ICT | 10,000 | 10,000 |
| 7 | Sports | 2,000 | 2,000 |
| 8 | Library Fees | 5,000 | 5,000 |
| 9 | Endowment Fund | 5,000 | 5,000 |
| 10 | PG School Handbook, Regulation and Guide to Dissertation/Thesis Writing | 5,000 | 5,000 |
| 11 | Municipal Charge | 2,500 | 2,500 |
| 12 | PG Dues | As shown on invoice | As shown on invoice |
| 13 | Identity Card | As shown on invoice | As shown on invoice |
| 14 | Tenece | 5,000 | 5,000 |
| Total | 79,500 | 104,500 |
Category B: Other Charges
| S/N | Charge | Amount (₦) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Screening test | 5,000 |
| 2 | Acceptance fee | 22,000 |
| 3 | Research workshop | 10,000 |
| 4 | Internal defence | 15,000 |
| 5 | Proposal | 10,000 |
| 6 | Accretion levy | 5,000 |
| 7 | Deferment of admission | 5,000 |
| 8 | Add and drop | 2,000 |
| 9 | Change of supervisor | 10,000 |
| 10 | Change of area of specialisation | 5,000 |
| 11 | Change of mode of study | 5,000 |
| 12 | Request for transcript | 3,000 |
| 13 | Internal transcript (within the country) | 25,000 |
| 14 | External transcript (international) | 50,000 |
| 15 | Extension of duration | 10,000 |
| 16 | Final defence | PGD: 20,000 · M.Sc.: 30,000 · Ph.D.: 50,000 |
| 17 | Convocation | 10,000 |
| 18 | Field trip | 20,000 |
| 19 | Hiring of convocation gown | 10,000 |
| 20 | Buying of convocation gown (Ph.D.) | 40,000 |
| 21 | Faculty colour for convocation | As shown on invoice |
| 22 | Transcript verification | As shown on invoice |
| 23 | O’Level verification | 1,500 |
| 24 | Student copy of transcript | 10,000 |
Disclaimer: The FUNAI postgraduate school fees in this article follow the School of Postgraduate Studies schedule of fees for new students and the most recently published application details. The university may revise its charges at any time, and some line items show their amount only on the generated invoice, so please confirm the exact amount on your payment invoice before you pay. MasterPG.com.ng is not affiliated with Alex Ekwueme Federal University, Ndufu-Alike.
UNIZIK Postgraduate School Fees 2026/2027 Session: official PGD, Masters & PhD Tuition Breakdown
What Each Category A Charge Covers
- Tuition: the main academic fee for your programme.
- Medical Health Insurance: access to the university’s health services.
- Registration and Examinations: your session registration and examination processing.
- Laboratory: laboratory use and consumables, which is why M.Sc./Ph.D. students pay double the PGD amount.
- ICT: access to the university’s online systems and internet services.
- Sports, Library, and Endowment Fund: student sports, library access, and the university’s endowment.
- PG School Handbook: the regulations and the guide to dissertation and thesis writing.
- Municipal Charge: campus environmental and utility services.
New vs Returning Students
The official schedule is titled “Schedule of Fees for New Students,” so it describes what you pay when you first enrol. New students pay the Category A session charges, the screening test (₦5,000), and the acceptance fee (₦22,000), in addition to the application form.
Returning students do not repeat the one-time screening and acceptance payments. They log in to the returning students’ portal, generate the invoice for the new session, and pay the session charges. Stage-based Category B charges, such as the research workshop, proposal, defences, and convocation, apply when you reach those stages, not at registration.
When you plan across several sessions, count how many sessions your programme will run and remember that each session brings its own invoice.
What a Typical Programme Costs
| Stage | PGD (₦) | M.Sc. (₦) | Ph.D. (₦) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Application form | 24,000 | 24,000 | 24,000 |
| Screening test | 5,000 | 5,000 | 5,000 |
| Acceptance fee | 22,000 | 22,000 | 22,000 |
| Category A session charges (first session) | 79,500 | 104,500 | 104,500 |
| Total for the first session | 130,500 | 155,500 | 155,500 |
For a research-based programme, the later Category B charges add up as well. If a candidate faces every stage, the research workshop (₦10,000), proposal (₦10,000), internal defence (₦15,000), convocation (₦10,000), and gown hire (₦10,000) come to ₦55,000, plus ₦30,000 for the M.Sc. final defence. That makes ₦85,000 in stage-based charges for an M.Sc. student. A Ph.D. student pays ₦50,000 for the final defence and ₦40,000 to buy a gown instead of hiring one, which brings the stage-based total to ₦135,000. These are illustrations of how the charges combine, and your own programme may include only some of them.
Acceptance Fee & Additional Charges
The acceptance fee for postgraduate students is ₦22,000, and the screening test costs ₦5,000. The application form for the most recent postgraduate admission exercise cost ₦24,000, and it is non-refundable.
Beyond these, the following charges can apply during your programme:
- Deferment of admission: ₦5,000.
- Add and drop: ₦2,000.
- Change of supervisor: ₦10,000.
- Change of area of specialisation: ₦5,000.
- Change of mode of study: ₦5,000.
- Extension of duration: ₦10,000.
- Accretion levy: ₦5,000.
- Field trip: ₦20,000, where your programme requires it.
- Transcripts: ₦3,000 to request, ₦25,000 for an internal transcript, ₦50,000 for an external (international) transcript, and ₦10,000 for a student copy.
- O’Level verification: ₦1,500.
Some of these costs are avoidable. For instance, planning your supervisor and specialisation carefully before you register saves you from change fees, and finishing within the approved duration saves you the extension charge.
IMSU Postgraduate School Fees (2026/2027 Session): PGD, Master’s, MBA, LLM and PhD Fees
Step-by-Step Payment Portal Guide
AE-FUNAI collects payments through its portal and the Remita platform, and payments go into the university’s Treasury Single Account using a Remita Retrieval Reference (RRR) generated from the portal. Follow these steps for each stage.
Part 1: Pay for the Postgraduate Application Form
- Visit www.funai.edu.ng and click Portal on the main menu.
- Click the PG Application link for the current session.
- Enter your mobile number and click Submit.
- Complete the Invoice Registration form and generate your invoice for the non-refundable application form fee.
- Print the invoice slip and pay at any bank, or pay with your debit card.
- Return to the portal and complete the application form.
- Request your transcript using the slips provided online, and submit them to your previous institution so that your last academic transcript is forwarded to The Secretary, School of Postgraduate Studies, Alex Ekwueme Federal University, Ndufu-Alike.
Part 2: Pay the Screening and Acceptance Fees
- Check your admission status on the portal.
- Log in to the portal at portal.funai.edu.ng with your username and password and set up your profile.
- Open the Acceptance menu and choose Acceptance Invoice.
- Select the session and click Submit to generate your invoice.
- Print the invoice and pay with the RRR at any bank branch, or pay online with a Visa, MasterCard, or Verve card.
- After payment, open the Acceptance menu again and choose Pay Acceptance.
- Enter your RRR, choose the session, and submit to print your acceptance letter.
- Pay the screening test fee in the same way, using the invoice generated for it.
Part 3: Pay the Category A Session Charges
- Log in to the portal and open the fees or payment menu.
- Select the session and the item you are paying for (the session charges).
- Generate your invoice and note your RRR.
- Pay at any bank with the RRR, or pay online with your debit card.
- Return to the portal, confirm your payment, and print your e-receipt.
- Keep both the bank receipt and the e-receipt for registration and clearance.
- Complete clearance and registration as directed by the School of Postgraduate Studies and your department.
Returning Students
Returning students log in through the returning students’ portal, generate the new session’s invoice, and pay with the RRR. Clear any outstanding balance first.
Payment tip: Pay acceptance fees first. Do not pay other fees before you have been cleared, because payments already made may not be refundable.
Installment Payment & Financial Aid
The published schedule lists each charge as a single amount, so plan to pay your session charges in full when you generate the invoice. If you cannot pay everything at once, write to the School of Postgraduate Studies through your department, explain your situation, and wait for written approval before relying on any arrangement. Keep a copy of every approval.
The stage-based Category B charges help with cash flow, because many of them fall due only when you reach the stage (workshop, proposal, defence, convocation). That means you do not need to raise the full cost of the programme on day one.
Several funding routes can ease the burden of the FUNAI postgraduate school fees:
- Employer sponsorship: many agencies, banks, and organisations pay for staff development.
- TETFund: staff of Nigerian public tertiary institutions can access it for postgraduate training.
- Scholarships: Commonwealth, Chevening, and other international awards are competitive but valuable.
- Research grants and assistantships: useful for M.Sc. and Ph.D. students, especially in the laboratory-based fields.
Apply early, since many opportunities close months before the session begins, and budget for your full fees before counting on any award.
Comparison to Previous Session
The FUNAI postgraduate school fees have been stable for several sessions. The same Category A totals of ₦79,500 for PGD and ₦104,500 for M.Sc./Ph.D., and the same ₦22,000 acceptance fee, appeared in the approved schedule for the 2021/2022 session, and the official page carries the identical figures today. The application form is the item that has moved most recently, reaching ₦24,000 in the 2024/2025 postgraduate admission exercise.
That stability is good news for planning, because you can budget with more confidence than at universities that revise their schedules every year. Even so, federal universities can adjust their charges when management reviews the schedule, so keep a cushion in your budget for the stage-based charges and any change in the application form price.
Scam Prevention & Safety Tips
Fraudsters target postgraduate applicants every admission season. Protect yourself with these rules:
- Use only the official AE-FUNAI website and portal. Type the address yourself instead of clicking links sent through WhatsApp, Telegram, or social media.
- Pay only through an RRR generated on the portal. Payments go into the university’s Treasury Single Account, never into a personal account.
- Do not trust “agents” who promise guaranteed admission, cheaper fees, or faster clearance.
- Pay the acceptance fee first, and do not pay other fees before you are cleared.
- Check every invoice. Confirm your name, session, programme level (PGD, M.Sc., or Ph.D.), and amount before paying.
- Keep every receipt as a PDF and a printed copy until you graduate.
- Never share your login details with anyone, including supposed staff.
- Ignore discount offers. There is no legitimate way to buy a reduced FUNAI postgraduate school fees invoice from an individual.
- Report suspicious contacts to the School of Postgraduate Studies or through the university’s official contact channels.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
How much are the FUNAI postgraduate school fees?
The Category A session charges total ₦79,500 for PGD students and ₦104,500 for M.Sc. and Ph.D. students.
What is the difference between PGD and M.Sc./Ph.D. fees?
Tuition is ₦20,000 for PGD and ₦35,000 for M.Sc./Ph.D., and the laboratory fee is ₦10,000 versus ₦20,000. Every other Category A line is the same.
How much is the acceptance fee?
₦22,000 for postgraduate students.
How much is the screening test?
₦5,000.
How much is the postgraduate application form?
The most recent postgraduate admission exercise priced the form at ₦24,000, and it is non-refundable.
How much is the final defence?
₦20,000 for PGD, ₦30,000 for M.Sc., and ₦50,000 for Ph.D.
How much does convocation cost?
₦10,000 for convocation, plus ₦10,000 to hire a gown. Ph.D. candidates buy their gown for ₦40,000.
What does an internal defence cost?
₦15,000, and the proposal costs ₦10,000.
How much is a transcript?
₦3,000 to request, ₦25,000 for an internal transcript, ₦50,000 for an external (international) transcript, and ₦10,000 for a student copy.
Where do I pay?
On the AE-FUNAI portal, by generating an invoice with an RRR and paying at a bank or online with a card.
What happens if I defer my admission?
A deferment of admission costs ₦5,000.
Can I pay in installments?
The schedule lists single amounts, so apply in writing through your department to the School of Postgraduate Studies and wait for written approval before relying on any arrangement.
Conclusion
The FUNAI postgraduate school fees are among the easiest to understand because the university publishes a clear two-part schedule. Budget ₦79,500 (PGD) or ₦104,500 (M.Sc./Ph.D.) for the core session charges, add the application form, screening, and acceptance fee, and plan for the stage-based charges when you reach your proposal, defences, and convocation.
Pay only through an RRR generated on the portal, keep every receipt, and clear your acceptance payment first. Ready to apply? Read our companion guide, FUNAI Postgraduate Courses and Admission Requirements 2026/2027, on MasterPG.com.ng to check your eligibility and prepare your documents.

Asuku Abdulmalik is an education content writer and the founder of MasterPG, a Nigerian postgraduate information platform focused on postgraduate admissions and school fees. With a background in researching and writing educational content, Asuku is passionate about making postgraduate information easier for students and prospective applicants to find and understand. Through MasterPG, he covers admission requirements, application forms, deadlines, admission lists, school fees, and practical guides for postgraduate students across Nigerian universities. He is committed to keeping MasterPG’s content clear, accurate, and regularly updated, while encouraging readers to verify important details with the relevant institution’s official sources before making any decisions.
Founder & Education Content Writer, MasterPG
Your Guide to Postgraduate Studies in Nigeria.


