Introduction
Cameroon has an estimated population of 15 million who belong to more than 200 ethnic and linguistic groups. The 1999-2000 World Development Report puts its GNP as $8.7 billion for 1998, with a GNP per capita of $610 and an annual growth rate of 6.7%.

History of Higher Education
With the assistance of UNESCO and the French government, the National Institute for University Studies was created in 1961. It became the Federal University of Cameroon in 1962, providing for degree programs in law, economics, the arts, human sciences, and the pure sciences. At the same time, professional programs were created at the School of Administration and Magistracy, the School of Agriculture (ENSA), the Military Academy (EMIA) and the School of Education (ENS).

The years 1969-71 saw the creation of new professional schools: the Business School IAE in 1968; the Medical School CUSS in 1969; the School of Journalism ESIJY in 1970; the International Relations Institute IRIC; and the School of Engineering ENSP in 1971.

ENAM and EMIA were independent structures, separate from the Federal University. The university proper consisted of 6 specialized schools (ENS, ENSA, CUSS, ESIJY, IRIC, and ENSP) and 3 faculties (arts and human sciences; science; law and economics). These institutions stemmed the flow of students who had previously sought tertiary education abroad. Admission into the specialized schools was limited, with selection based on an entrance examination. In contrast, entry into the faculties was open to all holders of the baccalaureate or the General Certificate of Education Advanced Level.

As these institutions were supposed to cater to English-speaking and French-speaking students, they were bilingual. Instruction was given in English or French, depending on the decision of the teacher. However, because the university was financed by France and run by French nationals, the programs were more like those of France and other Francophone countries. Also, because the greater proportion of the population is French-speaking (80%), there was a preponderance of French-speaking teaching staff who were more familiar with the Francophone system of education and taught in French. This situation created tensions, which led to demands for the creation of an English-speaking university to cater to the interests of English-speaking students.

Student Enrolment
From 213 students in 1961-62, the state universities enrolled 5,533 students by 1973-74, exceeding the figure of 5,000 for which they were constructed. These students were taught by 357 staff, making a teacher student ratio of 1:15; however, failure rates were quite high, especially in the faculty of science.

Students paid only registration fees, amounting to 3,300 FCFA (about $13) per annum yet received monthly stipends of 30,000 francs ($120 at the time) and room and board were provided at highly subsidized rates. Fees paid by students currently constitute about 25% of the recurrent budgets of Cameroon's state universities. However, there has been considerable resistance on the part of students against paying the registration fees instituted in 1993.

A factor that has contributed to the continuing rise in student numbers is the reluctance or inability to limit admission into the faculties, contrary to the stipulations of the reforms. Most universities continue to admit students far above their limitations of space, equipment, and even human resources, under pressure of demand for access and in an attempt to maintain or to increase income from registration fees.

Faculty
Because of the relatively low remuneration following the salary cuts of 1993 and currency devaluation in 1994, the universities have not been able to recruit qualified teaching staff and have gone back in recruiting holders of master’s degrees as assistant lecturers. In some universities, assistant lecturers constitute up to 70% of the teaching staff. Some universities rely to a significant extent on part-time teachers from other universities. The negative effects of this situation on quality are quite considerable. Table 4 shows the evolution of teaching staff numbers in state universities from 1991-92 to 1998-99. Although the number of teaching staff has increased from 1,227 in 1992-93 to 1,792 in 1998-99, staff quality has declined significantly.

Governance and Administration
From 1961-73, the Federal University of Cameroon was administered and funded essentially by the French Foundation. The vice-chancellor, some of the administrators, and a sizable proportion of the academic staff (especially at the initial stages) were French. The contributions in finance and staffing to the University by the governments of France and Cameroon were negotiated on a yearly basis by a Franco-Cameroon commission, which met alternately in France and in Cameroon.

On the account of legislation introduced in 1967, the chancellor of the university, who was also the minister of national education, was the executive head of the university, with responsibility for its administrative and financial management, as well as the recruitment of teaching staff. Up to 1973, the French government designated the executive and academic head of the university. The minister of national education retained supervisory authority over the university. He or she recommended deans of faculty and directors of professional schools for appointment by the head of state. He or she also appointed heads of departments on the recommendation of the vice-chancellor, following election by teaching staff.

The university has a Governing Council, presided over by the vice-chancellor. All deans of faculty and directors of schools sit on the council, as well as representatives of the various grades of teaching staff from each faculty and school. A number of government ministries, including the presidency of the republic, education, finance, public service, planning, and labor are also represented on the council.

Research and Publishing
Given their budgetary constraints, the new universities have focused on teaching and staff remuneration to the detriment of research, library acquisitions, books and publications. Research projects have been financed largely by external grants.

Funding and Resources
Subsidies from the state and contributions from the French government were the main sources of funding for the Federal University. No tuition fees were charged; and students paid only a very small registration fee, which constituted a negligible proportion of the budget. Unfortunately, state funding of universities dropped drastically in 1992-93 and 1993-94 and has remained low ever since. From a total overall budget of 47,756,000,000 francs for the university institutions in 1991-92 (about $86,512,000 at the time), the figure dropped to 21,477,000,000 francs in 1992-93 (about $42,924,000), and to 13,080,000,000 francs in 1993-94 (about $21,160,000). This is a drop of nearly 74% in two years.

Private higher education
In the years since 1990, there have been efforts in Cameroon to create private institutions that offer tertiary education. Among those that exist at present are the following:

• Advanced institute of information science and management (Institut Supérieur de Sciences Informatiques et de Gestion), Yaounde;
• Advanced institute of management (Institut Supérieur de Management), Douala;
• Advanced institute of development information and commerce (Institut Supérieur de Developpement Informatique et Commercial), Yaounde;
• Advanced school of management (Ecole Supérieure de Gestion), Douala;
• Advanced school of science and technology (Ecole Supérieure des Sciences et des Techniques), Douala;
• Adventist University, Nanga Eboko;
• Bamenda University of Science and Tecnology, Bamenda;
• British College of Professional Management, Douala;
• Catholic University, Yaounde;
• Groupe Tankou, Bafoussam;
• Institute of information technology (Institut des Technologies de l’Informatique), Douala;
• International University, Bamenda;
• Nacho University, Bamenda;
• PONAB Polytechnic, Bamenda;
• Samba advanced institute (Institut Samba Supérieur), Yaounde; and
• Siantou advanced institute (Institut Siantou Supérieur), Yaounde.

A good number of these private institutions are not authorized by the government because they do not meet minimum requirements of infrastructure, equipment, and staffing. Only a few have been approved; the others are nevertheless operating illegally. They charge tuition at rates that are more than 5-10 times those of state universities. Many of them do not have full-time teaching staff of their own; and rely mainly on lecturers of state universities. Their quality is thus often doubtful. Their attraction lies in the short professional courses that they offer in areas such as secretarial studies, insurance, accounting, banking, finance, commerce, management, journalism, information technology, hotel management, and electronics. They prepare students for the Brevet de Technicien Supérieur (Vocational Training Certificate) organized by the Ministry of Higher Education, as well as other foreign diplomas.

Note: For detailed account on the state of higher education in Cameroon, please consult: Dorothy L. Njeuma, African Higher Education: An International Reference Handbook (Damtew Teferra and Philip. G. Altbach, eds., Indiana University Press, 2003), pp. 215-223.