An empirical evaluation on the comparison between students’ preference and choice of polytechnic education over university in Nigeria

Every national growth rests on education. To promote overall national development, no area or degree of education should be overlooked. Education experts define polytechnic education as an educational system that focuses a significant emphasis on practical training and technological know-how. In Nigeria, the prejudice and discrepancies between polytechnic and university education have taken on a national significance. This study compared student preferences for university education over polytechnic education in Nigeria. Both admitted and prospective students from several polytechnics and universities in Delta State are included in the study's participants. The sample was chosen using a stratified sampling strategy. The Mann Whitney U test and the chi-square test of independence were used in the data analysis. This study showed that the public significantly prefers university education to polytechnic education (W = 215.0 p = 0.041). The study also discovered that choosing a university degree over a polytechnic education depends on a number of different factors (χ² = 36.03, p = 0.000). Finally, the study shows that most students and prospective students prefer university admission (89%) mainly because B.Sc is more valuable in terms of salary and promotions in any industry or organization (93%). In conclusion, the question on what the University graduates have that the Polytechnic graduate does not have is the value employers place on BSc over HND.