Skip to content
Government and Policy

Universities Tuition Fees To Triple As Vice-Chancellors Revive The Petition

BY Getrude Mathayo · October 3, 2022 02:10 pm

KEY POINTS

According to the current annual average fees of Sh26,000, tuition charges, which have remained unchanged from 1995, take Sh16,000, with the student paying Sh8,000 and the other half settled by HLB. The remaining bit is taken by charges like registration, amenity, medical and activity fees.

A petition has been revived by the Vice-Chancellor to increase tuition fees in public universities in the latest efforts to keep the institutions afloat.

A memo from the Ministry of Training has revealed the push by the highest college directors for the upward evaluation of charges within the subsequent consumption of first years.

The memo follows a gathering of vice-chancellors on September 23 that sought coverage choices to make sure monetary sustainability of the schools as some depend on short-term loans to finance their operations

Earlier, the officials had proposed that tuition fees be increased to Sh48,000 from the current Sh16,000 for fresh students to ease cash flow challenges that have affected service delivery.

Tripling the fees will mark the first major shake-up of university fees since the end of free university education in 1991 and the introduction of the student loans scheme – the Higher Education Loans Board (HELB) — in 1995.

The push for evaluation of the charges comes at a time universities are experiencing a pointy fall in enrolment on self-sponsored programs after the federal government opted to totally fund college students scoring the obligatory C+ grade within the Kenya Certificates of Secondary Training (KCSE) exams.

Students enrolling in the parallel degree program courses had over the years generated billions for the institutions. “The students paying should pay realistic tuition fees. Thus, review the Sh16,000 tuition payable since 1992,” reads a resolution made by the vice-chancellors

They petitioned the State and College Funding Board (UFB), which is remitted to price college programs and charges afresh—to approve the upward evaluation of tuition fees. The vice-chancellors suggest that the improved charges be launched for recent college students who will be part of universities from mid-next year to ease opposition from persevering with learners.

According to the current annual average fees of Sh26,000, tuition charges, which have remained unchanged from 1995, take Sh16,000, with the student paying Sh8,000 and the other half settled by HLB. The remaining bit is taken by charges like registration, amenity, medical and activity fees.

In 2010, research backed by the World Financial institution and the federal government advisable that public universities double their charges and enhance curiosity paid on HELB loans. However, pupil unions opposed the evaluation.

Public universities have come under monetary pressure lately because of speedy growth amid the dip in pupil enrolment, decrease State funding, and mismanagement.

Trending Stories
Related Articles
Explore Soko Directory
Soko Directory Archives