The University of Ghana has rejected about 39,645 qualified applicants who sought admission to pursue both undergraduate and graduate programmes in the 2013/2014 academic year.

Though about 37,507 undergraduates and 2,138 graduates were denied admission, the University, however, managed to admit and enrol more students this academic year than it did last year.

Professor Ernest Aryeetey, Vice Chancellor of the University, made this known during a matriculation ceremony marking formal induction of fresh students into the university.

“We are faced with the painful decision of having to turn down the applications of many otherwise well qualified applicants due to limitations of staff and facilities,” he said.

This year, he said, the University received 52,202 undergraduate and sub-degree applications comprising 23,966 females and 28,236 males.

He said despite the constraints, the school admitted 14,695 applicants and projects to bring on board 5,400 more on the distance learning programme, saying this is expected to push up the total figure for the 2013/2014 academic year to over 20,000 students.

According to the Vice Chancellor 5,768 prospective students applied for the graduate programmes this year out of which the University was able to admit 3,630 students.

This is against the 18,303 undergraduate and sub-degree applicants as well as 2,547 graduate applicants who were offered admission in the 2012/2013 academic year.

The Vice Chancellor explained that the situation was worse this year owing to the fact that two groups of students sat the West African Senior School Certificate Examination in May/June 2013.

He added that the results of many eligible applicants were released by the West African Examination Council after the University had accessed the results of applicants and at a time when admission quotas had already been met.

But since the release of the delayed results, the University eventually had to start with admissions culminating in the rejection of 881 applicants who obtained between aggregates six and nine, he said.