Reprieve for university students as state slashes fees in new structure

The government has lowered tuition fees for university students, but in doing so, has pushed the institutions, already wallowing in Sh85 billion debt, into deeper financial mess.

Starting September, student fees will be slashed by up to half, easing the burden on parents but on the same breath denying public universities billions in capitation funds. 

Vice Chancellors argue that the near 50 per cent reduction in course costs is a double blow to public institutions already struggling to stay afloat.

“The old model or what we referred to as the DUC (Differentiated Unit Cost) was not the problem. The real issue is the government’s failure to honour its funding promises. We are already witnessing delays in remitting funds for last year’s students,” a VC from a top public university told the Standard.

Another VC warned that universities face an even deeper crisis if the government fails to meet its obligations, even as fees are reduced.

On Thursday, it emerged that the government is yet to remit Sh17 billion in tuition fees for students from last year. This adds to the existing Sh85 billion debt owed to public universities.

With no fresh funding allocation to match the lower tuition revenues, universities are staring at deeper deficits, stalled projects, unpaid salaries, and a possible breakdown in academic operations, sources within top institutions warn.

Higher Education PS Beatrice Inyangala on Wednesday released a circular directing universities to implement the new fees directive without a mention of the debts owed to the institutions.

“Public universities are hereby directed to adopt the new fees schedule, effective September 1 for first year as well as continuing students. All public universities are further directed to update their admissions and finance portals to reflect the revised fees of academic programmes,” the circular reads.

The communication by Inyangala is another attempt to review the controversial university funding model that sparked public outrage prompting the President to lead the crisis management.

The initiative marks the third attempt by the government to refine the model that was adopted in September 2023.

In her circular, the PS said the review was reached after consultation with other stakeholders.

“In direct response to concerns raised by students and their families, the Government has lowered fees payable by students across all academic programmes,” Inyangala said.

In the circular, the lowest fees directly paid by the student’s family (household contribution) in university will be Sh11,628. On the other hand, the highest fee charged to a student will be Sh150,000.

The most expensive course, currently Medicine, that initially cost 612,000 even after a  mandatory 15 per cent discount, has been reduced to Sh450,000.

This means, students joining university to pursue Medicine in September will pay Sh162,000 less than students admitted last year.

However, VCs who spoke to The Standard said the effect of reduction on fees and programme cost, though is good news to parents,  exposes the public universities which will now be required to plug the deficits.

To cost a programme, the universities look at the number of students, the equipment required, the staff, course duration, the books and resources among other things required to teach the course.

For instance, under the medicine programme, universities estimate the total cost of teaching a student at Sh612,000.

The good news, however, is that the courses cost reduction and fees review brings uniformity in the university fees paid across all public institutions.

Previously, each university was at liberty of deciding the fees paid for each of their programmes; this led to disparities and also saw some universities charge close to double for the same programmes in different institutions.

With the new directive starting next month, students pursuing medicine will pay a maximum of Sh150,000 as fees annually. 

This means this category of students with the highest household contribution will pay Sh75,000 each semester.

 They will be entitled to 40 per cent scholarship and can apply for up to 20 per cent of a student loan.

But the most needy medicine student will now pay Sh44,742 annually. This translates to Sh22,371 each semester.

Students who will pay the least fees (household contribution), will be studying Bachelor of Arts, humanities, social sciences, economics, geography, literature, political science, history, will pay as low as Sh11,628 per year for their degree course.

This means a student will only pay Sh5,814 each semester. Those with the highest household contribution in the same courses will pay Sh23,256 per semester. This means, the student will pay Sh46,512 each year.

However, despite the reduction of tuition fees, the cost of other functions such as accommodation, examination, books, co-curricular and medical services will remain unchanged.

It also emerged that the new directive by Inyangala are mere amendments to the contested new funding model, which the government is fashioning to mirror the DUC that was scrapped to give way to the new model.

VCs who spoke to The Standard, said that the review is a step back as it mirrors contested fees paid before the introduction of the new funding model.

However, of big concern is the government’s failure to pay the pending debts and commitment under the new model which now seems to be swept under the carpet with the new circular. This, it emerged, could strain the cash strapped universities.

On Thursday, Vice Chancellor’s Committee chairman Prof Daniel Mugendi, said the move was meant to ease the burden on parents without compromising the quality of education.

Mugendi, who doubles up as the University of Embu VC, said the review looked into variables that could be reviewed after the initial costing.