4000 Students Fail To Report To UON After Fees Was Doubled

4,000 students who were admitted to the University of Nairobi have not reported due to the fee increment by the institution.

The university has sharply increased its annual fees from 26,500 shillings for government-sponsored to 59,000 shillings while self-sponsored students who were initially paying a fee of 275,000 have doubled to about 600,000 shillings.

The Kenya University and Colleges Central Placing Service (KUCCPS) had placed a total of 10, 971 students both on government and self-sponsored programs at the institution. Out of the number, only 6,835 managed to join the institution for their first-year studies in the September- December semester

1,971 government-sponsored students are yet to report while over 2,000 self-sponsored students have not yet enrolled for their course study.

In June 2021, Kenya, Medical Practitioners, pharmacist, and Dentists Union filed a lawsuit against the institution for unfairly increasing the school fees at the expense of many students who come from humble backgrounds.

On Thursday, October 21, Justice Anthony Mirima in his verdict concerning the case, ruled that the institution carried out an unconstitutional act by attempting to increase fees and ordered the management to stop the move.

According to Justice Mirima’s ruling, the criteria used by the University to increase the fees through the Handbook of Fees Payment(Policy, Schedules, Guidelines & Procedures) was constitutionally weak and cannot hold hence the need of the institution to charge applicable fees.

“For clarity, the 1st respondent shall continue to charge its applicable fees based on the criterion which was in place before the impugned Handbook of Fees Payment(Policy, Schedules, Guidelines & Procedures),” read a part of the ruling.

The University of Nairobi which is a research-intensive university with a reputation for excellence and strong vibrant research culture is likely to set to lose many students if they continue with the fee hike move.

Read More: What the UoN Fee Increment Means for Both Students and the University