Universities perform effectively in an environment where school plants provision is adequately planned to help achieve the goals and objectives of teaching, research and community service. The present scenario in some universities where the facilities are poorly located; where the building sizes are inadequate for the students and where the aesthetics is unpleasant may lead to impairment in the effectiveness of the universities. Thus, this study investigated university plant planning and effectiveness of public universities in North-central Nigeria. The objectives of the study were to: (i) investigate the adequacy of university plant planning; (ii) determine the level of universities effectiveness; (iii) examine the relationship between school plant location and universities effectiveness; (iv) investigate the relationship between school aesthetics and universities effectiveness; and (v) investigate the relationship between building design and universities effectiveness.rnThe study employed a descriptive survey research design. The population of the study comprised all the 6,462 lecturers in the universities in the North-central Nigeria. The sample consisted of 794 lecturers who were selected from six universities in the North-central Nigeria using stratified random sampling technique. University Plant Planning Questionnaire, Effectiveness Questionnaire and Studentsâ€™ Academic Performance Proforma were used to obtain data for the study. The questionnaire was validated with reliability coefficient of 0.89. The data were analysed using SPSS computer soft ware package. Mean, percentages, standard deviation and ranking order were used to analyse the research questions. While Pearson Product Moment Correlation Statistics was used to determine the level of relationship between the two variables at 0.05 level of significance. The benchmark (mean scores) for determining the level of adequacy of plant planning is 1.00-49.99 = low; 50.00-59.00 = average; 60.00 -100.00 = high; while that of the level of effectiveness is 0.00-49.00%= low; 50.00- 59.00%= average and 60.00-100%= high.rnThe findings of the study were that:rn(i) the university plant planning in North-central, Nigeria was inadequate (rn(ii) the level of effectiveness of universities was low (16.42 %);rn(iii) there was a significant relationship between plant location and universities effectiveness (r=0.41 p<0.05);rn(iv) there was a significant relationship between plant aesthetics and universities effectiveness (r= 0.09, p<0.05);rn(v) there was a significant relationship between plant design and universities effectiveness (r= 0.12, p<0.05);rn(vi) there was a significant relationship between building sizes and universities effectiveness (r= 0.32, p<0.05); andrn(vii) there was a significant relationship between plant safety and universities effectiveness (r= 0.10, p<0.05).rnThe study shows that there was a relationship between university plant planning and effectiveness in public universities in the North-central Nigeria. Also, the level of effectiveness in public universities in the North-central was low as a result of inadequate university plant planning in terms of location,school plant aesthetics, building design, size and students and employees safety. The study recommended that university plant planning in terms of location for easy accessibility, size, safety should be improved upon in order to enhance the effectiveness of the Universities.