By K. Ericson Sayee
Prof. Dr. Layli Mapanyan, President of the University of Liberia, has presented US$61, 614, 970 as an amount the university is planning to work with during the 2027 Fiscal Year.
Appearing on Tuesday, October 6, 2026, at the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning’s budget hearing, the UL President pleaded that an increased budgetary allotment projected by her administration, if granted and approved, will help resolve major and critical issues at the State-run University.
Maparyan says the amount is intended to be used to bankroll enormous renovations and construction of new classrooms, and will also to address long-standing issues, including promotions of faculty and staff who meet the threshold for promotions.
The UL Provost noted that the top grievances of the faculty and staff is fixing pay and promotions, particularly promoting faculty members who have returned from their studies.
She added that the university is exerting all efforts to resolve salary disparity concerns among faculty and staff, disclosing that all of these concerns are genuine but need huge budgetary support.
According to her, the university was built to host about 15,000 students, but as of now, she added, the university has over 30,000 students, stressing the need for an increased budgetary allotment to construct more classrooms to accommodate the huge turnout at UL.
She disclosed that the university has a plan to construct a classroom building this year, but due to an unforeseen circumstance, it was diverted to what she called “shifting priorities”, hoping that the university can implement it early next year through the support of the government.
University’s Plan to Cut Down Time Students Take To Graduate
Dr. Mapanyan revealed that one of the problems at the University of Liberia is having long-stayed students.
According to her, there are students who have overstayed pursuing their bachelor programs –something the UL President says her administration is carefully planning to mitigate.
As a university pushing to compete with its counterparts, she disclosed that there is a need to avert the culture of overstay, asserting that there are students who spend about eight years or more before earning their undergraduate degrees.
She averred that UL should not be a school where students stay for eight years and above, stating that this overstay deprives other emerging students from enrolling to the institution.
Mapanyan unveiled her plan to have UL among the top 300 universities in Africa under the government’s ARREST Agenda, where education is one of the key pillars of the government, expressing that to be able to achieve this feat, there are lots needed to do before achieving this.
The UL Top Official lauded the government for the US$6.3 million budget for the renovation, as she recommits her continued support toward improving the university, highlighting the significance of improving infrastructures at the University of Liberia.
She revealed that currently there is a significant renovation ongoing on the Capitol Hill campus.
According to her, the allotted amount is intended to renovate the Graduate School and Business College structures and the Medical Schools in Congo Town.
Mapanyan says the Law School and Sinje campus are next in line, disclosing that her 2027’s budgetary quest intends to touch the Administrative Complex in Fendall, the Agriculture campus, the Science and Engineering buildings, among others.