UNIVERSITY OF CAPE COAST RANKED NUMBER ONE IN THE WORLD IN TERMS OF RESEARCH AND THE BEST UNIVERSITY IN GHANA AND WEST AFRICA.

The University of Cape Coast (UCC) in Ghana has been ranked the number one university globally for research influence.

It has also been ranked the number one university in Ghana, the top university in West Africa, and part of the top 5 universities in Africa.

The announcement was contained in the 2021-2022 Times Higher Education annual rankings.

HISTORY

The University of Cape Coast was established in October, 1962 as a University College and placed in a special relationship with the University of Ghana, Legon.

On October 1, 1971, the College attained the status of a full and independent University, with the authority to confer its own degrees, diplomas and certificates by an Act of Parliament.

The University was established out of a dire need for highly qualified and skilled manpower in education. Its original mandate was therefore to train graduate professional teachers for Ghana’s second cycle institutions and the Ministry of Education in order to meet the manpower needs of the country’s accelerated education programme at the time.

Today, with the expansion of some of its Faculties/Schools and the diversification of programmes, the University has the capacity to meet the manpower needs of other ministries and industries in the country, besides that of the Ministry of Education.

From an initial student enrolment of 155 in 1963, the University of Cape Coast now has a total student population of about 80,000.

The University started with two departments, namely: Arts and Science. These departments developed into Faculties in 1963. In order to achieve the set objectives, in 1964, the University created two more Faculties, namely: Education and Economics & Social Studies [now Faculty of Social Sciences].
The fifth faculty [School of Agriculture] was established in 1975.

The Faculty of Science was split into the Schools of Physical and Biological Sciences during the 2002/2003 academic year while the Department of Business Studies was also elevated to the School of Business with effect from the 2003/2004 academic year.

The university has since added to its functions the training of doctors and health care professionals, as well as education planners, administrators, agriculturalists, and lawyers. UCC graduates include Ministers of State, High Commissioners, CEOs, and Members of Parliament.