• Education

    Beyond the Books: The Real Cost of Tertiary Education in Ghana

    By Jasmine Legon, Ghana — Under a corrugated-roof hostel near the University of Ghana, 22-year-old Maame Esi carefully scoops rice into containers for lunch orders. It’s 6:30 a.m., and her day as a food vendor is just beginning — well before lectures start at 10 a.m. “I have to hustle to stay in school,” she says. “My fees are paid, but there’s no money for anything else.” Maame is one of tens of thousands of Ghanaian university students navigating a complex web of tuition, housing, feeding, and social pressures. While headlines often focus on admission numbers and academic rankings, the untold story is what it really costs to survive and…