More than 40,000 students who sat the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education exam last year and qualified to join the university did not apply for admission, the ministry has said. 

Education Cabinet Secretary Julius Migos Ogamba said out of the 244,563 candidates who scored a mean grade of C+ and above, 194,372 (80 per cent) were placed in degree programmes. 

Ogamba urged the 43,868 eligible students who have not yet applied for university placements to submit applications to institutions, including KMTC and the Open University of Kenya, which have ongoing intakes.  

In total, the Kenya Universities and Colleges Central Placement Service (KUCCPS) has placed 310,502 students into universities and tertiary institutions. 

Speaking during a media briefing on July 1, 2025, Ogamba announced that the Ministry of Education has successfully completed the placement process for the 2024 Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) candidates into universities and colleges across the country. 

Seamless exercise 

He said the seamless and technologically enhanced exercise saw over 310,000 students placed into various programs. This year, KUCCPS adopted a phased approach to allow for timely admissions. 

“The first phase focused on Kenya Medical Training College (KMTC), National Polytechnics, and other public TVET institutions for the March and May intakes. The second phase catered to university and teacher training college placements for the September intake. I’m pleased to report that this process was concluded without any technical hitches,” said Ogamba.   

According to the CS, there were 986,137 openings across universities, TVETs, and teacher training institutions sufficient to accommodate not only the 2024 KCSE cohort but also applicants from previous years. 

Among the 950,711 Kenyan students who sat the 2024 KCSE exam, 706,148 qualified for TVET and other tertiary programs.  

The government has expanded training capacity by launching new institutions, including Kabarak University College and Nyandarua University College.  

Several KMTC campuses were also established, the latest being in West Pokot. Additionally, new teacher training colleges were opened in Northern Kenya, with the aim of increasing access and choice for learners. 

“These expansions are in line with President William Ruto’s commitment to the Bottom-Up Economic Transformation Agenda. They are designed to equip youth with skills necessary for sectors such as health, agriculture, housing, and the digital economy,” Ogamba stated. 

A total of 93,207 students have been placed into public TVET institutions for the March, May, and upcoming September intakes.  

For KMTC, 52,725 qualified students applied, against an available capacity of 34,040. Nursing programs continued to be the most sought-after, with over 27,000 applicants competing for just under 3,000 slots. 

Of those placed into KMTC, 6,750 had scored C+ and above. The CS announced that a second round of KMTC applications for the September intake is ongoing, and urged qualified candidates to take advantage. 

Following revisions to entry requirements based on recommendations by the Presidential Working Party on Education Reform, enrollment in teacher training colleges saw a notable boost. KUCCPS received 20,786 applications for diploma programs in teacher education, with 11,636 students securing placements.

Of these, 10,800 joined diploma programs for primary education and 836 for secondary education. 

“Another positive development in this year’s placement is the introduction of the Kenya School of Law Diploma in Law in the KUCCP placement portal, with a capacity of 500. The programme has received overwhelming interest, and the slots were filled,” Ogamba stated. 

Ogamba also announced that university tuition fees have been rationalised, with some reduced by as much as 40 per cent, depending on the course.   

“The programmes that had the highest interest were medicine, education and engineering and nursing. The highest decrease in terms of rationalisation of fees was in medicine because it was the highest figure that was there,” he said. 

Available support 

Students can now apply for financial aid through the Higher Education Fund, whose portal is currently open. The Ministry expressed gratitude to Parliament for allocating Sh500 million towards student loans for KMTC enrollees. 

“Students can now apply for funding, and if any student has any queries, we are open and available to support,” said Beatrice Inyangala, Principal Secretary for higher education and research 

Ogamba further explained that the Means Testing Instrument (MTI) has now been revamped, which now considers more variables, including household income, farm sizes, previous school fee payments, and Hustler Fund applications to determine a student’s financial needs more accurately. 

“A student who feels unfairly assessed can appeal through the MTI portal. Likewise, those who feel they can pay more are encouraged to indicate this, to allow for better support to those in greater need.”  

This year, 162,252 students (approx. 90 per cent) of degree applicants were placed in public universities, and 17,873 in private universities.