Nasarawa State College of Agriculture, Science and Technology Lafia

The College of Agriculture, Science and Technology, Lafia (COAST Lafia), formerly the College of Agriculture, Lafia, is a Nasarawa State institution that has trained students in the art, science, technology and practice of modern agriculture for about four decades. Its mission is to promote technical knowledge and entrepreneurial education through teaching, research and strategic partnerships for self-reliance, and its vision is to be a centre of technical excellence producing self-reliant graduates for global competitiveness.

The college is located on the Jos Road, opposite the Airport Road, at Ombi 2, Lafia. Its expanded mandate links agriculture with other sciences and engineering, and it is organised into seven schools and twenty-four academic departments running programmes in agriculture, applied sciences and engineering technology.

Schools

• Engineering and Environmental Technology: agricultural and bio-environmental, civil, computer, electrical and electronics, mechanical, welding and fabrication engineering technology, and survey and geo-informatics
• Animal Science and Fisheries Technology
• Management Technology: agribusiness management, cooperative economics and management, agricultural extension and management
• Agronomy and Environmental Management: agricultural technology, forestry, horticulture and landscape, crop production and pest management
• Applied Sciences and Technology: basic sciences, statistics, computer science and information technology, science laboratory technology, fashion design and clothing, laundry and dry-cleaning technology
• Home Economics and Hospitality Management: nutrition and dietetics, home and rural economics
• General Studies: languages and humanities and social sciences, servicing the other schools

Programmes lead to the National Diploma (ND) and Higher National Diploma (HND), with a Pre-ND Science and Technology programme and a Postgraduate Diploma (PGD). The college is guided by its enabling law, conditions of service and the students' handbook, and its programmes are moderated by the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE). It became a TETFund beneficiary in 2024, and TETFund-supported projects include an engineering complex, a new girls' hostel, library development and ICT infrastructure.

Practical training is supported by the Students' Industrial Work Experience Scheme (SIWES), run with the Industrial Training Fund, and by an entrepreneurship development unit, a consultancy unit, a sport unit and a clinic. The college is led by a Rector, Dr Musa Yahaya Maikafi, assisted by a Deputy Rector, Registrar, Bursar and Librarian.