African Perspectives on Programs for North American Students in Africa: The Experience of the University of Ghana-Legon

Abstract

The University of Ghana is the oldest of the five universities in Ghana. The others are Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, the University of Cape Coast, the University College of Education in Winneba, and the University of Development Studies in Tamale. The last two are only three years old and do not as yet have student exchange programs with North American universities. Kwame Nkrumah University and the University of Cape Coast do have student exchange programs with a few North American universities. The University of Ghana in Legon is basically a liberal arts university. Its teaching departments are grouped under the Faculties of Arts, Law, Social Studies, Science and Agriculture; the School of Performing Arts; the School of Administration; the School of Communication Studies; and the University of Ghana Medical School. The university also has research institutes, some of which have graduate programs. These are the Institute of African Studies; the Institute of Statistical, Social, and Economic Research; the Institute of Adult Education; the Regional Institute of Population Studies; the United Nations University's Institute of Natural Resources in Africa; and the Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research. Legon has a policy of drawing up to 10 percent of its student population from outside Ghana. It has therefore always had a number of foreign students, mostly from other