More than half of the qualified applicants who sought admission to pursue undergraduate and post graduate courses for the 2017/18 academic year did not gain admission.

Out of the total 13,188 applications made up of 12,240 undergraduates and 948 post-graduates received, only 5,785 were admitted by the University.

The number of female intake continued to be low as 2,144 females were admitted at the undergraduate level with only 194 of the 555 post-graduate students being females.

The Vice Chancellor of the University of Cape Coast (UCC), Professor Joseph Ghartey Ampiah, made this known at the Matriculation ceremony held for the newly admitted students on Saturday.

The matriculants would pursue post-graduate and undergraduate programmes at the College of Education Studies, College of Human and Legal Studies, College of Agriculture and Natural Sciences and Colleges of Health and Allied Sciences.

Although the Vice Chancellor did not state why majority of the applicants were denied admission, it was speculated to be due to the limited number of facilities and staff in the school among other factors, which needed to be critically assessed.

However, Prof. Ghartey Ampiah said it showed that the process of admission into the University was tough and highly competitive and urged the matriculants to learn hard to consolidate their stay on campus.

He said the University would continue to put in place avenues to take in more females but encouraged female students to learn hard to take advantage of such opportunities.

Prof. Ghartey Ampiah said the University was committed to its core values and advised the students to strictly adhere to the rules and regulations in the Students’ Handbook, and pay attention to academic work.

He warned that the University would not hesitate to rusticate any student who went contrary to the school’s rules and regulations, using the 22 students who were rusticated last academic year as an example.

“The University of Cape Coast, just like any other university in the world, has rules and regulations. I wish to emphasise that these rules and regulations are not for the purposes of punishing you, they are meant to bring order and harmony in the University and make your life and stay here comfortable,” he said.

The Vice Chancellor said UCC was committed to helping students achieve their dreams and that it was not interested in cutting their dreams short by rusticating them and called for discipline at all times.