Ghanaian students in the United Kingdom under the government scholarship scheme say they are facing significant hardship, risk of academic dismissal and possible deportation due to delays by the Ghana Scholarships Secretariat in meeting its financial obligations.
The Minority in Parliament has also called for urgent government intervention to clear all arrears owed to scholarship students in both the United Kingdom and the United States.
According to the Minority, outstanding arrears—covering tuition and stipends for PhD students alone—are estimated at about GH¢56 million.
Several affected students have received warning letters from their universities, including the University of Wolverhampton and De Montfort University, cautioning that they could be withdrawn from their programmes due to non-payment of fees.
Some letters from De Montfort University, dating as far back as February 12, 2026, also indicated that students’ visas could become invalid if the situation remains unresolved.
The President of the UK PhD cohort, Prince Komla Bansah, said many students are at risk of deportation after enduring up to 40 months of unpaid fees and stipends.
“The situation, as the Minority Leader in Parliament, Alexander Afenyo-Markin, recounted, remained the same and even worse for most students in the UK. As I speak to you now, the issue is not just one university; over 20 universities where Ghana’s scholarship secretariat provided sponsorship to students who are facing almost the same sort of serious problem.
“Most of these students have been withdrawn from their courses as a result of the non-payment of the tuition fees.
He added, “A lot more of them have also been reported to the home office for possible deportation. I wake up every morning with a lot of calls from students and messages and screenshots of emails that the universities have sent to them.
“So as we speak now, students are in limbo, they don’t know what is going to happen next to them because some of them cannot re-enrol. As I said before, with the PhD cohorts, for instance, the GSS owes as much as 40 months in arrears of stipend.”
