UG is free, but students say money problems remain

GEORGETOWN, Guyana: The University of Guyana may now be tuition-free, but complaints submitted to Opposition Member of Parliament Hon. Odessa Primus are raising questions about what students are still required to pay, how those charges are communicated, and what happens when students believe they have been incorrectly charged.

In one of the more troubling complaints, a prospective University of Guyana student says she applied on July 9, 2026, for the Associate of Science in Biology programme and was instructed to pay $30,000 for a Chemistry qualifying examination. According to the complaint, the applicant made the payment at GBTI, obtained a receipt and submitted proof of payment to UG’s Admissions Office, Examination Division and Registry.

What followed, she says, was weeks of uncertainty. Despite emails and repeated visits to the Registry, the applicant alleges that she received no clear information about when the examination would be held and was repeatedly told to wait for an email that never arrived.