The School of Nursing, Bowen University Teaching Hospital (BUTH), Ogbomoso, is a mission-founded basic nursing training institution in Oyo State, run under the Nigerian Baptist Convention and domiciled within the Bowen University Teaching Hospital complex. It trains basic nursing students separately from the degree-awarding Nursing Science programme run by Bowen University itself, and prospective applicants frequently mix the two up when searching for fee information. This article focuses specifically on the School of Nursing at BUTH, laying out what freshers and returning students should expect to pay for the 2026/2027 academic session, along with the admission process, payment channels, and the extra costs that come with training at a mission institution.
Understanding the School of Nursing, BUTH Ogbomoso
The School of Nursing traces its roots to the old Baptist Medical Centre, Ogbomoso, which has since grown into the Bowen University Teaching Hospital. The school trains basic nursing students over a three-year programme, at the end of which candidates sit the Nursing and Midwifery Council of Nigeria (NMCN) final qualifying examination before being registered as professional nurses. As part of their clinical exposure, students are posted to specialized units, including postings for Ophthalmology, Ear, Nose and Throat (ENT), and psychiatric nursing experience at partner teaching hospitals such as the University College Hospital, giving them a broader clinical grounding than what the home hospital alone provides.
Because the institution operates under a mission body rather than a state or federal government, its school fees run considerably higher than what public schools of nursing charge. Applicants planning their finances for this programme should budget accordingly and treat any fee figure as a planning estimate until the current session’s official fee schedule is issued alongside the admission letter.
School Fees for Fresh Students, 2026/2027
Fresh students at the School of Nursing, BUTH, pay a combined first-year cost that bundles tuition with several one-time or annually recurring charges rather than a single, isolated tuition line. Based on the pattern of recent sessions, the total package for a first-year (100 Level) student, covering tuition, hostel fee, uniform, internal examination charges, development levy, and health insurance, has fallen in the region of ₦500,000 for a session, with some reports placing the wider fee band for the programme between ₦350,000 and ₦500,000 depending on which charges are bundled into a given year’s schedule. The Administrative Board of the hospital reviews and fixes the exact 100 Level fee annually, and the confirmed figure is always stated clearly on the admission letter issued to successful candidates.
The first-year package for freshers typically includes:
- Tuition and academic fees for the session
- Acceptance fee (charged once, at the point of confirming admission)
- Hostel accommodation, since most first-year students are required to live on campus
- Uniform and clinical wear
- Internal (school-based) examination fees
- Development levy
- Health insurance scheme contribution
- Caution fee and medical fee
Students are still expected to separately budget for feeding, textbooks, stationery, and personal upkeep, none of which fall inside the quoted fee package.
Acceptance Fee
Once a candidate scales through the entrance examination and interview and receives an offer of provisional admission, an acceptance fee becomes payable to confirm the offer. Reports on this fee differ slightly by source and by session: some cycles have quoted the acceptance fee as a flat ₦50,000 for every fresh student, while others describe it as roughly 15 percent of the approved school fee for that year, a proportion the Administrative Board sets alongside the main fee schedule. Because this detail changes based on how the board structures a given year’s charges, candidates should read their admission letter carefully, since it states the acceptance fee applicable to their specific intake.
School Fees for Returning Students
Once a student advances past the first year, the fee structure adjusts. Returning students, in Year 2 and Year 3 of the programme, no longer pay the acceptance fee, and depending on the session, some of the one-time development or take-off charges from the first year also drop off. What remains payable each session includes tuition, hostel fees (for students who continue in campus accommodation), internal examination fees, health insurance renewal, and standard departmental levies. In practice, this brings the returning student’s session cost below what a fresher pays, though it still sits well above the fee levels charged at government-funded schools of nursing, given that BUTH is a privately run, mission-affiliated institution.
The table below summarizes the general pattern for quick reference. Treat the naira figures as planning estimates drawn from recent sessions rather than a fixed, current-year quote, since the fee is reviewed and reissued by the hospital’s Administrative Board every session.
| Fee Component | Fresh Students (Year 1) | Returning Students (Year 2–3) |
|---|---|---|
| Tuition/academic fee | Included | Included |
| Acceptance fee | Payable once (flat rate or a percentage of school fees) | Not applicable |
| Hostel accommodation | Usually included/compulsory | Included if continuing on campus |
| Uniform and clinical wear | Included | Not applicable (replacements paid separately) |
| Internal examination fee | Included | Included |
| Development levy | Included | May be included, depending on the session |
| Health insurance | Included | Renewal included |
| Estimated total per session | Approximately ₦350,000 – ₦500,000+ | Lower than the fresher’s package, exact figure varies by session |
Application Form and How to Apply
Admission into the School of Nursing, BUTH, begins with an online application process managed through the College of Nursing’s dedicated admission portal. The non-refundable application fee has consistently been quoted at ₦20,000, payable into the official Wema Bank account held in the name of the College of Nursing, BUTH, Ogbomoso. After payment, applicants complete their registration online, print their attestation slip and examination slip, and submit the required physical documents, which include a copy of the registration form, a signed attestation slip, and copies of the examination slip along with a photocopy of the payment receipt, at the Principal’s Office before the stated closing date.
The general steps for application are as follows:
- Visit the College of Nursing’s official application portal.
- Make the ₦20,000 non-refundable application payment through the designated Wema Bank account.
- Complete the online registration form with accurate personal and academic details.
- Print the attestation slip and examination slip once registration is confirmed.
- Submit the required printouts and document copies at the Principal’s Office on or before the deadline.
- Sit for the written entrance examination, followed by an oral interview for shortlisted candidates.
Entry Requirements
Candidates applying to the School of Nursing, BUTH, Ogbomoso, are expected to meet the following minimum requirements, which are broadly consistent with standards set for basic nursing training across Nigeria:
- A minimum of five credit passes in English Language, Mathematics, Biology, Chemistry, and Physics from WAEC, NECO, or an equivalent examination body, obtained in not more than two sittings.
- A minimum age requirement, generally set at 16 years and above at the point of application.
- For candidates presenting a UTME score, a minimum score threshold applies, and this figure is confirmed on the admission portal for each session, since cut-off expectations can shift from year to year based on the volume and quality of applicants.
- Candidates must be certified medically fit, since nursing training involves close clinical contact and physically demanding ward postings.
Selection follows the standard two-stage process used across most schools of nursing: a written entrance examination, followed by an oral interview for those who scale through the written stage. Successful candidates are then issued provisional admission and an accompanying fee schedule.
Why Fee Estimates Vary Across Sources
Anyone researching the cost of this programme online will notice that the naira figures quoted are not perfectly uniform. This happens for a straightforward reason: the Administrative Board revises the fee structure every session, and the composition of what gets bundled into “school fees” changes from year to year. In some cycles, hostel and uniform costs sit inside the quoted total; in others, they are billed as line items separate from tuition. Given that BUTH is a private, mission-run institution rather than a government-subsidized one, its fee reviews also tend to track inflation and operating costs more closely than public schools of nursing do. For this reason, the numbers presented here should be read as a guide for budgeting purposes, with the official admission letter and fee schedule for the 2026/2027 session serving as the final and binding reference.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is the School of Nursing, BUTH, the same as Bowen University’s Nursing Science degree programme?
No. The School of Nursing at BUTH runs a basic (certificate-level) nursing training programme under the teaching hospital, while Bowen University’s Nursing Science programme is a separate degree course run by the university itself, with a different and generally higher fee structure.
Does the fresher’s fee include accommodation?
In most recent sessions, hostel accommodation has been bundled into the first-year fee package, since freshers are typically required to reside on campus. Confirm this detail on the current session’s admission letter, as bundling can change.
Is the application fee refundable?
No. The ₦20,000 application fee is non-refundable, regardless of the outcome of the entrance examination or interview.
How is the acceptance fee calculated?
Reports vary between a flat rate and a percentage of the approved school fee for that session. The exact figure and method are always stated on the admission letter issued to successful candidates.
Why do returning students pay less than freshers?
Returning students no longer pay the one-time acceptance fee, uniform charges, and some of the take-off development levies that apply only in the first year, which brings their overall session cost below what a fresher pays.