Evaluating the Effectiveness of Software Engineering Education in Nigerian Private Universities

The quality and industry-relevance of software engineering education in Nigerian private universities has significant implications for the national technology workforce, yet comparative evaluations of educational effectiveness remain limited. This study evaluates the effectiveness of software engineering education at selected Nigerian private universities, comparing outcomes between Covenant University in the South West, American University of Nigeria in the North East, and Benson Idahosa University in the South South. A mixed-methods evaluation framework combines graduate employer surveys, curriculum content analysis, graduate self-efficacy assessments, and academic performance data review. Quantitative employer surveys involving 45 hiring managers assess the work-readiness of recent graduates across technical, professional, and problem-solving competency dimensions. Curriculum content analysis benchmarks programme structures against the ACM/IEEE Software Engineering 2014 guidelines and the current industry skills landscape. Findings show that private university graduates score 18 percent higher on employer technical competency ratings than the national average, with Covenant University graduates showing the strongest industry alignment. However, all three programmes show deficiencies in cloud engineering, DevOps, and AI integration. Recommendations target NUC accreditation criteria revision to mandate AI and cloud competency requirements. Keywords: software engineering education, private universities, curriculum evaluation, Nigeria, graduate competency