ABSTRACT:

The study examined the opinions of Nigerian students in tertiary institutions on their ideal familysize. It was conducted among students in four tertiary institutions in Edo State of Nigeria. A sample size of 454 final year students was randomly drawn from the halls of residence in the institutions using the stratified sampling technique. A 34-item questionnaire was the main instrument used for the study. A reliability of 0.78 was reported for the instrument using Kudder-Richardson Coefficient (20) in a pilot study with a group of students outside those used for the study. The study reveals that male and female students in tertiary institutions have negative opinion on large family size. A high percentage of Nigerian students (49.6%) desired four children. It was also found that there is no significant difference in the opinions of male and female students on family size.