IMPACT OF HIGH COST OF ARCHITECTURAL EDUCATION ON STUDENTS’ CREATIVE WORKS PRESENTATION IN A TYPICAL NIGERIAN UNIVERSITY

Worldwide, substantial part of architectural education expenses revolves around the architectural design studio. It is in this environment that students are trained to master and present creative works required as a licensed architect. However, until creativity is presented in a format that is legible and assessable, it remains a conjecture of the mind. Previous studies identified high cost of architectural education as a barrier to the training of future professionals. This paper investigated the extent to which high cost of architectural education impact on presentation of creative works of students in Covenant University, Nigeria. Questionnaires were administered to collect related information from cross-section of students from the second to the sixth level in the 2014-2015 academic sessions. The study identified parents’ response to students’ architectural budget; high education expenses; cost of software and associated hardware; and students’ tendency to resign to fate when they encounter prohibitive expenses as cost factors that have impact on students’ creative works presentation. However, result revealed that high cost of architectural education does not significantly influence students’ decision to either study or produce creative works.The study recommended that the educational stakeholders, teachers, jurors needs to consider contingency factors in the likes of input prices and procure targeted scholarship, and bursaries with emphasis on the financially weak students. Also, national policy on education (NPE) needs to prioritize citizenry education by allocating more funds into university education.