Why it will cost you an arm and a leg to earn degree from UoN
You will now pay more than Kes 600,000 to pursue your Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree from the University of Nairobi.
This comes after the university revised its fee structure, more than doubling the fees for postgraduate degree programs as well as undergraduate courses offered under self-sponsored terms.
The fees review, the first in nearly 20 years, is set to significantly hit students eyeing to enroll for courses in commerce, communications and law among others starting this month.
Previously, one would pay just under Kes 300,000 to earn an MBA—one of UoN’s cash cow programmes—from the institution.
In a report on the financial health of State Corporations last week, the Treasury marked the University of Nairobi’s earnings rating as “operating below cost recovery” yet the institution carries strong social mandate to deliver core services to the country.
Other top universities in Kenya that were put in same category are Kenyatta University, Moi University, as well as Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology.
Prospective self-sponsored students eyeing a degree in medicine from UoN will start parting with about Kes 3.8 million for the five-year course, up from Kes2.35 million, Engineering Kes 2.1 million from about Kes 1 million while those seeking a career in law will pay about just over one million shillings from the current Kes 715,500 for the training.
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The Treasury noted that these centres of higher learning have accumulated arrears and are heavily dependent on financing from the Treasury.
A 2018 report from the Auditor-General shows that the institution struggled to wire staff dues for various statutory obligations.
UoN’s review of fees is therefore a step by the institution to help shore up revenue streams at a time student enrollment numbers have been on the decline.
Data from Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) shows that the university’s enrolment declined to about 60,000 last year from nearly 100,000 in 2016.
Nudged by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) as a precondition for accessing Kes 255 billion loan in April, Kenya agreed to evaluate the financial health of her State institutions following adverse economic disruptions caused by the pandemic.
