Uncertainty over university fees as CS keeps costs under wraps

Mystery still clouds the true cost of university education after the government declined to reveal the actual price of degree programmes under its new funding model.

On Wednesday, Education Cabinet Secretary Julius Ogamba and his Principal Secretary Beatice Inyangala sidestepped questions on the overall cost of courses, even after quietly revising the initial estimates downwards by 15 to 40 per cent.

Instead, students and parents have only been told they will see the tuition amounts that directly affect the, figures uploaded to their individual university portals.

“Just know you are paying what we have analysed for you to be able to pay. And if there is a challenge, we will deal with it. But remember, we have structured this model in a way to ensure that the most vulnerable get the highest support from the government. And those who are able to afford, pay their fair share,” Ogamba said on Wednesday.

He spoke on Wednesday as the Commission for University Education (CUE) granted interim authority to the newly established Consolata International University, raising the number of universities in Kenya to 81.

The announcement came alongside revelations that the Ministry of Education has scrapped the six financial bands introduced in 2023. However, the ministry has yet to explain how students will now be categorised under the revised model.

Instead, the CS maintained that the fees students are required to pay will reflect their actual financial status, but offered no clarity on the criteria that will guide the allocation of state support.

Students on self sponsored programmes have also been asked to check the amount they will pay as fees on the student portal.

“The exact amount that the student is supposed to pay will be in their portal. So if there’s a student who has a challenge, who is not understanding what they are supposed to pay, then they should go to the university, there’s a team there that will explain it to them,” Ogamba said.

The lack of transparency is fuelling unease among students, many of whom say they are struggling to register for the new academic year as universities demand full payment upfront.

Taxpayers are also left in the dark on how billions of shillings in education funds are being allocated.

According to Vice Chancellors Committee chairman Daniel Mugendi, the cost of university programmes is determined by factors such as staff salaries, facilities, research needs, and even class size.

Mugendi said universities set the cost of each programme by weighing several factors, including course requirements, operational expenses, and the institution’s overall financial needs.

“In public universities, the figures are usually approved by governing bodies such as university councils or the Vice Chancellors’ Committee, while private universities rely on boards of trustees,” he said.

He noted that the biggest cost drivers include faculty salaries, research funding and the upkeep of infrastructure such as libraries, laboratories, and lecture halls. “For highly technical courses like medicine or engineering, the cost of equipment and training facilities makes the programmes far expensive than humanities or social sciences,” Mugendi said.