Universities in Guinea-Bissau: Admission, Costs and How to Apply
By Muntasir • Published May 06, 2026 • Updated Aug 08, 2026 • African Countries & Cities, Africa Admissions & Exams
Guinea-Bissau has one public university and four small private universities, all in Bissau, teaching in Portuguese.
🎓 Universidade Amílcar Cabral (UAC) is the only public university, founded in 1999.
Private options include Universidade Colinas de Boé, Universidade Lusófona, Universidade Jean Piaget and Universidade Católica da Guiné-Bissau.
You need a completed 12th grade certificate to apply, plus fluent Portuguese for lectures.
💵 Public tuition costs less than private tuition, but no university publishes a fixed nationwide fee list.
Core faculties across the system cover law, humanities, medicine, education and public administration.
The higher education system in Guinea-Bissau
Guinea-Bissau is a small, Portuguese-speaking country, and its university system stays small to match. Nearly every higher education institution sits in Bissau, the capital, so studying at university almost always means moving to or staying in the capital. Lectures run in Portuguese, the official language, so you need solid Portuguese to follow coursework even if Kriol is your first language at home.
Students who do not want a full academic degree, or who want a technical qualification instead, apply to specialized schools such as the Higher School of Education or the National School of Health rather than a university faculty.
Universidade Amílcar Cabral: the public university
Universidade Amílcar Cabral (UAC) is Guinea-Bissau's only public university, founded on December 6, 1999, and named after Amílcar Cabral, the leader of the country's independence movement. The university closed in 2008 during a period of institutional problems, then restructured from 2010 and resumed teaching from 2013, according to Wikipedia's summary of the university's history .
UAC operates as a federation of faculties. Law, Humanities and Medicine sit alongside the National School of Administration and the Higher School of Education. If you want a public-university degree in Guinea-Bissau, one of these faculties is your route.
Private universities
Private universities fill the gaps the public system does not cover, and most run as local extensions of Portuguese institutions.
| University | Notes |
|---|---|
| Universidade Colinas de Boé | Private university based in Bissau |
| Universidade Lusófona (Guiné-Bissau) | Extension of Lisbon's Universidade Lusófona |
| Universidade Jean Piaget da Guiné-Bissau | Extension of Portugal's Instituto Piaget network |
| Universidade Católica da Guiné-Bissau | Catholic-run private university |
Because several of these run as extensions of Portuguese universities, per Wikipedia's list of universities in Guinea-Bissau , their degree structure typically follows the Portuguese licenciatura-mestrado pattern, a bachelor's degree followed by a master's, similar to other Bologna-aligned Portuguese-speaking systems.
Specialized schools
Not every qualification in Guinea-Bissau runs through a university. The Higher School of Education (Escola Superior de Educação) trains teachers, and the National School of Health (Escola Nacional de Saúde) trains nurses and health technicians. Both accept students straight from secondary school and lead to specific professional qualifications rather than an academic degree.
Public vs private: what to weigh
UAC costs less and carries the standing of a national public university, but faculty seats are limited and the range of programs is narrower than what you find across the private universities combined. Private universities offer a wider spread of programs modeled on their Portuguese partner institutions, at a higher price, and some accept new intakes more flexibly than the public university's academic calendar.
If your target profession sits inside UAC's five faculties, in Law, Medicine, Humanities, Public Administration or Education, apply there first and treat a private university as your backup application. If you need a program outside those areas, a private university is your only domestic option.
Entry requirements
To apply to any university in Guinea-Bissau, you need a completed secondary education certificate (12th grade). Programs teach in Portuguese, so admissions offices expect you to read, write and follow lectures in Portuguese from day one.
Guinea-Bissau does not run a single national admissions exam or centralized cut-off system the way some other countries do. Each faculty sets its own entrance process, and some require a written test or interview before you are placed on a program. Contact the faculty admissions office directly to confirm the exact requirements and intake numbers for your intended program, since these details are not published in one central place.
How to apply
Finish secondary school and collect your certificate and transcripts.
Pick a university and faculty that offers your intended program.
Contact the faculty admissions office directly, since Guinea-Bissau has no single national application portal.
Submit your certificate, transcripts, identity documents and any application fee the faculty asks for.
Sit an entrance test or interview if your faculty requires one.
Wait for the admission list and confirm your place before the faculty's enrollment deadline.
What it costs
Guinea-Bissau uses the West African CFA franc (XOF), pegged to the euro. Public tuition at UAC costs less than tuition at the private universities, but neither the public nor the private institutions publish a fixed, nationwide fee schedule you can rely on ahead of time. Ask the admissions office for the current fee for your specific program before you commit, since costs vary by faculty and change between academic years.
Tuition is only part of your budget. Housing, food and transport in Bissau usually add up to more than tuition itself. See our guide to student life and housing in Guinea-Bissau for a full monthly budget breakdown.
Funding your studies
Guinea-Bissau does not run a national student loan agency. Most students pay from family income, and a smaller number compete for scholarships to study in Guinea-Bissau or abroad through programs run by Portugal's Camões Institute and other foundations. Our guide to scholarships and student funding in Guinea-Bissau covers these options in detail.