The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Kenya Universities and Colleges Central Placement Service (KUCCPS) Dr Mercy Wahome stated that universities will not be allowed to revise fees for courses until a student completes four academic years.
Speaking during a media sensitisation workshop on students' placement process and the new higher education funding model on Saturday, May 20, the CEO stated that the move would ensure the effectiveness of the new funding model.
According to Wahome, the universities will only be allowed to revise university fees for the following cohort after consultations.
Further, the CEO noted that even if the cost of the studies reduces, the students will continue paying the same amount for the following four years.
However, for every intake, the universities are allowed to revise their fees, meaning that for each cohort, the cost of the courses could vary.
“We are funding the students. We kept saying that we need to fund the student and not the university because when we fund the university, they will even compromise on the quality,” she stated.
Geoffrey Munari, the CEO of the University fund noted that the new model was also a solution to the falling quality of education and the ballooning debt burden.
"The quality of our education has been affected so we need to think. The debt the university was accruing was growing very fast," he stated.
President William Ruto unveiled the new funding model on Wednesday, May 3 as a remedy to the debt crisis bedeviling public universities.
He noted that under the new model, the government would increase university allocation in the 2023/24 financial year from Ksh54 billion to Ksh84.6 billion.
Further, Ruto explained that students would be divided into three categories including the Vulnerable, the Less Vulnerable and the Able and will receive funding according to the categories.
He noted that the new funding model would take effect in the next education year and all continuing government-sponsored students will be supported in line with the previous model.
"Universities and TVETS will no longer receive block funding in the form of capitation based on a differentiated unit cost. Funding to students shall combine scholarships, loans and household contributions on a graduated scale," Ruto stated.
