Reforms at the University of Nairobi have seen a sharp drop in student enrolment in the past one year. The Economic Survey 2022 reveals that the university has a 7,795 drop in students’ enrolment – from 55,488 in 2020/2021 to 47,693 in 2021/2022.
The number of female students dropped from 12,932 last year to 11,137, while that of male students has dropped from 42,556 to 36,556.
Financial challenges
The reduced enrolment is believed to be because of the increased fees introduced by the university last year as part of efforts to resolve its financial challenges.
The university increased undergraduate annual tuition and administrative fees from Sh26,500 to Sh59,000 for first year government-sponsored students.
The university maintained the regulated tuition fee of Sh16, 000 that cuts across all public universities for the self-sponsored students but increased the administrative fees. Self-sponsored degrees, which would cost an average of Sh300, 000 in total now cost students over Sh600,000. Fees for master’s courses in art courses, which used to be Sh275,000, were increased by 147 per cent to Sh680,000.
At Kenyatta University, the number of male students has dropped from 38,425 last year to 38,357.. However, female students have increased from 31,227 to 31,866.
The Economic Survey notes that, the total enrolment in public universities is expected to decrease from 452,100 in 2020/2021 to 448,5000 in 2021/2022. BY DAILY NATION