The government has announced a major reduction in fees for all public university programmes under the student-centred funding model, offering financial relief to thousands of students and their families.
In a directive issued by Principal Secretary for Higher Education, Dr. Beatrice Muganda Inyangala, on Wednesday, the revised fees will take effect from September 1, 2025, and will apply to both new and continuing students.
The Ministry of Education explained that the decision follows extensive consultations with the public, students, and higher education stakeholders, who had raised concerns over the rising cost of university education.
“The Government of Kenya is pleased to announce a landmark rationalisation of public university fees based on the Student-Centred Funding Model,” Dr. Inyangala stated in the letter addressed to university managements.
The PS emphasised that the fee cut was a direct response to concerns raised by students and their families and is aimed at making university education more affordable and accessible to all.
Public universities have now been directed to update their admissions and finance portals to reflect the new fee structure in readiness for the September intake.
The government clarified that the full cost of academic programmes will continue to be met through a combination of tuition fees, scholarships, and student loans, depending on the financial needs of individual learners.
Universities have been urged to implement the changes with efficiency and fairness to ensure that no student is denied education due to financial constraints.
Inyangala reiterated the government’s commitment to transforming higher education into a key driver of national development, adding that accessibility and sustainability will remain central to education reforms.
To guide the implementation of the revised structure, the Ministry also released a detailed schedule outlining the new minimum and maximum fees per semester for various academic programme clusters in public universities and their constituent colleges.
For instance, students pursuing clinical medicine and dentistry will pay between Ksh22,371 and Ksh75,000 per semester. Pre-clinical programmes in the same fields will attract fees ranging from Ksh12,960 to Ksh51,840.
Architecture and engineering programmes have been capped between Ksh12,960 and Ksh57,888, while computing and built environment studies will cost between Ksh12,960 and Ksh51,840.
Health sciences and nursing courses fall in the range of Ksh14,400 to Ksh57,600. Meanwhile, agriculture-related programmes such as natural resource management and food science will cost between Ksh9,720 and Ksh45,603.
Education and applied science courses, including biochemistry, actuarial science, and statistics, will range between Ksh11,628 and Ksh46,512.
Business, arts, and social sciences will be the most affordable, with fees ranging from Ksh5,814 to Ksh30,101, depending on the specific course.
The revised fee policy comes at a time when the government is struggling to streamline education financing across all education levels in the country.
Last week, Treasury Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi, while appearing before the National Assembly committee on July 24, the CS claimed that free basic education was no longer sustainable, citing the increased number of students in schools and constrained fiscal resources.
However, three days later, President William Ruto moved to dismiss the same and assured Kenyans that free basic education is still a priority for the government.
