JIBIR. M. Talba^1,, Bello Ibrahim Alhaji², Moussa Ibrahim³

Demand is a multidimensional and determined by many factors. Education is viewed as investment and key to development of any nation. This paper investigated the demand for private education in Nigeria with focus on Borno State. Both primary and secondary sources of data were utilized in this paper. The primary data were obtained from random administration of 2000 questionnaires to 5 enumeration areas. The paper extensively used probabilistic sampling techniques to get the data ready. The living standard measurement Surveys was also utilized in collecting data. The probit regression technique was used to assess the impact as well as determinants of higher private education for rural households, urban households and combinations of both variables. The result shows that the size of households, per capita spending, school fees, father’s level of education, households location in the rural or urban areas, and intermittent strikes of university teachers constitute the main determinants of higher education demand in Borno state. Note that high increase in the demand for higher private institution in Borno state can be attributed to the influence of institutional, economic and socio cultural factors. The paper recommends that some measures should be put in place by educational planners to emphasize the quality of output from the higher public and private institutions. There is also need to match the candidate choice of course and the marketability of the course in the labor market. This paper also note that school fee is never an impediment to choosing the private higher institution, Therefore user charges could be used to address poor funding of public institutions in Nigeria. Policy makers should look into agitations of lecturers in tertiary public institutions in order to address the teething problem of inadequate funding of public institutions to avoid brain drain and further falling standard of education in Nigeria.

binomial regression, backward linkages, forward linkages, higher education