Dr Amina Peters Adams, Dr David Francis Ekpoto, Uduak Peter Eyo & Prof Sunday David Edinyang
Abstract
This paper adopted survey design to investigate the relationship between income inequality, sustainable development, and students’ academic achievement in public universities in Cross River State, Nigeria. Two hypotheses were formulated to guide the study. The population was 1,236 economics education students drawn from the two public universities in Cross River State, Nigeria. Stratified and proportionate sampling techniques were used to sample 200 students from the two public universities. A 20-item questionnaire titled “Income Inequality, Sustainable Development and Students’ Academic Achievement Questionnaire” (IISDSAAQ) was used to elicit information from the respondents. Pearson Product Moment Correlation analysis was used to test the hypotheses. The hypotheses were tested at .05 level of significance. The result of the analysis revealed that income inequality and sustainable development are correlated to students’ academic achievements in public universities in Cross River State. It was recommended, among others, that the government should prioritize increased funding for education, ensure transparent and fair salary policies, and invest in educational infrastructure, to enhance development and service delivery in tertiary institutions.