Some 17,151 students will join private universities, according to the Kenya Universities and Colleges Central Placement Service (KUCCPS).

The students are part of the 202,133 who joined universities in results announced early this month by the placement agency. The figure is slightly lower than the 17,873 students who were placed last year.

The students who applied for places in private universities through KUCCPS only qualify for financial support from the government through loans, but not scholarships. On the other hand, the rest apply directly to the universities. They also qualify for loans.

The government stopped sponsoring students at private universities three years ago. The programme had started in 2017, and left the state with an unpaid bill in private universities running into billions of shillings.

For the placement exercise, 33 private universities had offered 60,042 slots, meaning 42,891 (71 per cent) vacancies were not filled. Some universities do not offer or limit slots for some in-demand marketable degree programmes to KUCCPS, opting for direct admissions and their own processes for admission.

Sh60bn State debt

Mount Kenya University had the highest number (3,221) of students placed against a declared capacity of 6,089. It was followed by Zetech University at 2,137 against a declared capacity of 4,220.

Other top 10 universities include: KCA University (1,855), Kabarak University (1,563), Catholic University of Eastern Africa (1,094), Daystar University (983), University of Eastern Africa, Baraton (750), Kenya Highlands Evangelical University (741), the Great Lakes University Kisumu (683) and Lukenya University (573).

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Education Principal Secretary Dr Beatrice Inyangala.

Photo credit: Jared Nyataya | Nation Media Group

In March this year, Higher Education Principal Secretary Beatrice Inyangala was hard-pressed to explain a Sh60.2 billion debt owed to private universities. In the 2016/2017 financial year, the government introduced a policy shift allowing the KUCCPS to place students in both public and private universities to help uplift private universities.

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This was after students who qualified for university admission dropped to about 70,000 only, following stringent measures to curb cheating in the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education examinations. All who qualified were eligible for sponsorship by the government.

At the time the government ended the arrangement in the FY 2022/2023, the pending bill figure stood at Sh15 billion but has been on an upward trajectory. The matter is being handled by a committee appointed by President William Ruto to evaluate all pending bills owed by the government.

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The monies owed to a particular private university is based on the number of students placed in the institution, which is also tied to declared capacities as verified by the Commission for University Education (CUE).

Private universities recorded a sharp rise in student placements by KUCCPS in 2024, when the number nearly doubled from 9,622 in 2023 to 18,557. Since then, however, growth has stalled, with placements declining marginally to 17,873 in 2025 and 17,151 this year.

The CUE approved a total of 327,157 vacancies in 43 public and 33 private universities for the 2026/2027 Placement Cycle.

Education Cabinet Secretary Julius Ogamba delivers his address during the Kenya Universities and Colleges Central Placement Service (KUCCPS) stakeholders' forum for the release of the 2026 university and college placement results in Nairobi on July 8, 2026. Wilfred Nyangaresi | Nation Media Group

Photo credit: Wilfred Nyangaresi | Nation Media Group

Education cabinet secretary Julius Ogamba noted that this year, a total of 8,915 students who qualified for degree programmes in the 2025 KCSE examination opted for non-degree programmes in tertiary institutions.

Universities and colleges to which students have been placed are now expected to immediately embark on preparations for admission and communicate appropriate joining instructions.

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ligadwah@ke.nationmedia.com