Abstract
The increase in the cost of providing university education all over the world has made it clear that government alone could no longer bore the total cost of university education. Consequently, the government introduced payment of tuition fees in Nigerian universities leaving out private cost of university education to the recipients. To this end, this study investigated private cost of university education and the academic performance of undergraduates in southwestern Nigerian universities. The objectives of the study were to determine the relationship between the component of private cost of education and academic performance of students in universities in southwestern Nigeria and to establish how private cost of education will predict the academic performance of students from the selected universities in southwestern Nigeria. One research question was raised and two hypotheses were formulated to guide the study. A questionnaire tagged Private Cost of University Education and Academic Performance Questionnaire (PCUEAPQ) was used to elicit information from 360 respondents selected from three state owned universities in southwestern Nigeria. The result showed that the costs of books and students private hostel are positively related to students’ academic performance while the cost of transportation is negatively related to students’ academic performance. The study recommended that, lecturers should give comprehensive lecture notes to the students after the lesson and the universities management should provide hostel accommodation for students in Nigerian Universities.