No Admission Without Fees, Universities Defy Machogu Directive
Parents and students are expressing surprise and concern as public universities defy Education Cabinet Secretary Ezekiel Machogu’s directive by requiring first-year students to pay their fees before admission. At least five reputable public universities, including Kisii University, Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT), Maseno University, Kenyatta University, and Moi University, now demand that parents cover up to seven percent of the total program cost in tuition fees before granting admission. Students and parents have reported that failure to meet these fee demands has led to denial of admission.
For example, Kisii University restricted access to specific admission forms until students fulfilled the institution’s mandatory fee requirement. Similarly, at JKUAT, a student had to settle the seven percent fee before the admission process. Maseno University is set to begin classes on September 24, but students must clear the equivalent of seven percent of their tuition fees before being admitted.
Machogu issued a directive stating that no student should be refused admission based on fee payments. In a circular dated August 24, he instructed all vice chancellors of public universities and principals of constituent colleges to admit all students. He also directed them to provide the government with an additional month to process payments for each student.
Under the updated funding formula, students are categorized as vulnerable, extremely needy, needy, or less needy, with different levels of government funding. Vulnerable and extremely needy students receive full funding through scholarships and loans, while needy and less needy students receive 93% of their funding from the government but are responsible for covering 7% of their tuition fees.
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The Higher Education Loans Board (HELB) and the Universities Fund (UF) are responsible for processing and categorizing students’ data. However, universities are requesting fees before the government completes processing applications and determining the allocation criteria.
Machogu expressed dissatisfaction with this practice and warned that vice chancellors requesting fees could face disciplinary action. He emphasized that the funds would be disbursed once student data processing was finalized and that requesting fees at this stage was inappropriate as data collection was still ongoing through student applications.
The imposition of fees has sparked outrage among students and their guardians. Prof. Daniel Mugendi, chairman of the Vice Chancellors Committee, reported that students would be allowed to attend classes while Helb and UF informed them of the status of each student. Machogu criticized the request for fees, deeming it “unlawful,” and raised concerns about the fee criteria used by universities. He assured universities that funds would be disbursed once student data processing was completed.
No Admission Without Fees, Universities Defy Machogu Directive
