Private universities’ popularity on the rise

By JOAB MWANGE

Private universities have taken up four of the top 10 most popular institutions of higher learning in the country in the latest world university ranking.

Strathmore University and United States International University (USIU) have been ranked as the third and fifth respectively as the most popular universities in Kenya today.

University of Nairobi (UoN) still remains the most popular institution of higher learning in Kenya according to the World Web ranking.

Moi University has been ranked second taking up the position previously held by Kenyatta University that has now been ranked position four.

Mount Kenya University (MKU) comes seventh while Catholic University of Eastern Africa (CUEA) is listed in position eight, completing the set of private universities that edged some of the well-known public universities.

The ranking was conducted by the “4 International Colleges and Universities (4ICU),” a higher education international search engine and directory that only reviews accredited universities and colleges in the world.

The grading aims at providing the admiration ranking of world universities and colleges based on the popularity of their websites among students and other interested parties.

Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKuat) and Egerton University have been ranked sixth and ninth respectively. Maseno University closes the list of the best 10 in a grading that has ranked all the 44 institutions of higher learning in the country.

Kabarak University has been ranked number 25 with South Eastern Kenya University ranked last.

The 4ICU directory only provides ranking for universities and colleges officially recognized, licensed or accredited by the national or regional bodies such as the ministries of education and other recognized higher education accrediting agencies.

The 4IUC web ranking is not based on academic performance but the growing popularity of the private institutions will be a concern to public universities.

The ranking means that public universities will no longer be certain to register the thousands of students who take up parallel courses in their institutions if the increasing admiration for private universities is any indicator.

Public universities have continued to face challenges due to the double intake that has led to a major ‘overflow’ of students with several of them missing accommodation facilities.

With the Universities Act (2012) providing for a joint admission regime where a central placement board will admit students to both public and private universities, the contest is now open.