Published: September 16, 2026
By: Henry N. Kolenky
HARPER, Maryland County — The government expects William V.S. Tubman University to turn its US$6.4 million budget allocation into jobs for graduates and solutions for southeastern Liberia, Finance Minister Augustine Kpehe Ngafuan said Monday.
Speaking at the university’s 17th Founders’ Day celebration, Ngafuan said the university’s own goals would be judged by results rather than by reports or meetings. Those goals include having 80% of graduates employed within six months of graduating and at least 10% running businesses within three years.
“Government is not doing this university a favor by supporting these projects. We are carrying out a national duty,” he said.
The university’s president said the institution needs more. Olu Q. Menjay said enrollment is approaching 3,000 students and that some facilities built in the university’s early years can no longer meet its needs. He called for greater investment in infrastructure, faculty development and academic programs.
About US$1 million of this year’s allocation is going to priority capital projects and rehabilitation, Ngafuan said. The work covers academic facilities, residences, classrooms, the old engineering building and the Moroccan Hostels. The government is also rebuilding the perimeter fence and constructing a new College of Engineering and Technology building.
Ngafuan said buildings were only part of what the government expects. He urged the university to strengthen its ties with employers, expand internships and entrepreneurship programs, invest in its faculty and give students more chances to build practical skills. He said an engineer should design infrastructure that can withstand Liberia’s heavy rains, health graduates should bring services closer to rural communities, and business graduates should be able to create jobs rather than only seek them.
He also called on the university to become a research center for the Southeast. He named coastal erosion, climate-resilient roads, renewable energy, public health, fisheries, food processing, sanitation, sustainable mining and trade as possible areas of work.
The university’s five-year strategic plan, “Transformation for Worthy Service,” also targets a 20% increase in revenue from sources other than the government.
Ngafuan used the same visit to announce that Liberia had collected more than US$1 billion in domestic revenue in a single year for the first time. He said the milestone gives the government greater fiscal capacity but also raises expectations of institutions that receive public money.
Menjay said the university has outgrown its image as a rural school. He described it as a national public institution serving students from across Liberia and beyond, and said its location in Maryland County should not limit its reach.
He pointed to the university’s new graduate school, which offers programs in business administration, construction management and educational leadership. He called it a major milestone for higher education in the Southeast. He also said the university’s digital library now gives students access to millions of books, journals and research materials.
Menjay thanked the Boakai administration for its budget support.
“The best of TU is not behind us. It is ahead of us,” he said.
The university began in 1978 as Tubman College of Technology, with 87 students in fields including architecture, civil, electrical and mechanical engineering, and electronics. The civil war shut it down in December 1989. Classes stopped, students and faculty scattered, and buildings were looted and damaged.
The institution was rebuilt after the war and elevated to university status on Sept. 14, 2009, under then-President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf. Ngafuan, who was finance minister at the time, recalled doubts about whether a university could succeed so far from Monrovia, given the poor roads, damaged infrastructure and limited resources.
“What some considered too risky has become indispensable,” he said.
The university now has six colleges and more than 20 degree programs.
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