University in Nigeria
Makurdi, Benue State
University profile
Joseph Sarwuan Tarka University, Makurdi (JOSTUM), formerly the Federal University of Agriculture, Makurdi, is a federal university in Makurdi, Benue State. It was renamed in honour of the late Joseph Sarwuan Tarka, a Nigerian statesman and agriculturalist from Benue State. Its motto is Innovation and Service.
The university was established on 1 January 1988 and grew out of the Federal University of Technology of 1980, which became the Makurdi campus of the University of Jos in October 1980. Its founding philosophy is that the average Nigerian farmer should have easy access to the fruits of scientific agriculture, so students are trained in practical farm planning, production and marketing, with supervised farming internships at village level.
Academic work is organised into twelve colleges: Agricultural Economics and Extension, Agricultural Extension and Communication, Agronomy, Animal Science, Biological Sciences, Education, Engineering, Food Technology and Human Ecology, Forestry and Fisheries, Management Sciences, Physical Sciences and Veterinary Medicine. Degree programmes include Bachelor of Agriculture degrees in crop, soil, animal, forestry and agricultural economics options, B.Sc. programmes in the biological and physical sciences and management sciences, engineering degrees and a wide range of B.Ed. and B.Sc.(Ed.) programmes in the College of Education.
The Vice-Chancellor is Professor Isaac Nathaniel Itodo. The university is a federal institution and its programmes are accredited by the National Universities Commission (NUC). The Center for Innovation in Procurement, Environmental and Social Standards (CIPESS) runs postgraduate diploma and M.Sc. programmes, and a School of Postgraduate Studies handles postgraduate admission.
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View scholarships for Joseph Sarwuan Tarka University, Makurdi →Candidates who sat the 2026 UTME and chose JOSTUM as first choice may apply for the 2026/2027 session; online registration began on Monday 10 August 2026. The minimum admissible UTME score is 150 or the department's own cut-off. Candidates need at least five SSCE credit passes, including English Language and Mathematics, in not more than two sittings. O-Level or A-Level results must be uploaded on the JAMB Central Admission Processing System (CAPS); failure to do so leads to disqualification.
Departmental UTME cut-offs vary by programme; for example 150 for most B.Agriculture programmes, 140 for some, and 180 for B.Sc. Biochemistry, Botany, Microbiology and Zoology. UTME subjects for most agriculture programmes are English Language, Biology, Physics and Chemistry; Biological Sciences programmes require English Language, Mathematics, Physics and Chemistry. Detailed O-Level subject lists and Direct Entry routes (A-Level, IJMB/JUPEB, NCE, ND, HND; ND and NCE holders with credit or merit generally enter at 200 Level and HND holders with a minimum lower credit at 300 Level in agriculture) are set programme by programme in the official requirements brochure.
Applicants verify their JAMB record on the admission portal using their JAMB registration number, generate a Remita Retrieval Reference and pay the screening fee of N2,000, then log in, complete bio-data and O-Level results and print the screening acknowledgment slip. Candidates whose JAMB record is not found but who have chosen or will choose JOSTUM as first choice create a portal account through Apply Now. After uploading documents, an online admission processing fee of about N25,000 is paid, and admission status is monitored on the portal dashboard.
The main campus is on University of Agriculture Road, North Bank, Makurdi, Benue State.
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