Prime Minister Dr. Hubert Minnis visited the University of The Bahamas yesterday to observe the progress of the government’s newly implemented Tertiary Grant Program, which assists 95 percent of UB’s new students by offering free tuition. 

During his visit, Dr. Minnis was questioned about the government’s decision to drop the qualifying GPA from 4.0 to 2.0. 

“Three-point or 4.0 students aren’t necessarily the best leaders. We have seen this repeatedly in medical school, et cetera. Those that knew they had certain deficits work extremely hard to succeed and they are the ones that turn out to be successful individuals and leaders because sometimes they work a lot harder than those who take these things for granted,” he said.

“Hard work encourages discipline. It encourages leadership. You become more focused.” 

The prime minister toured both the Small Island Sustainability and Portia Smith buildings during his visit. 

“It was interesting to see how many of the students are taking advantage of the grant. I went to one particular class and all of the students were taking advantage of it,” he said.

“We reviewed the university’s data and we found that a lot of the students that were part time are now full-time.” 

According to University President Dr. Rodney Smith, some 5,000 students are enrolled for classes this semester, and 95 percent of new students are utilizing the tuition grant this semester.  

Dr. Smith said, “We’ve seen an increase in enrollment in Grand Bahama and here in Nassau. If I were to estimate, we normally bring in about 1,200 students for the freshman year. This year, we’re bringing in 1,500 students and we’re still counting.” 

Dr. Smith added that the university’s capacity for new students is 1,700.