PS directs universities to update finance portals

Higher Education PS Beatrice Inyangala before the National Assembly Education Committee at Bunge Towers, Nairobi, on March 19, 2025. [Elvis Ogina, Standard]

Public universities have been directed to update their admission and finance portals to reflect the revised fees as recently refined by stakeholders.

Higher Education and Research Principal Secretary Beatrice Inyangala also asked the universities to establish help desks to assist students to apply for education loans.

The PS spoke during the Murang'a University of Technology (MUT) 9th graduation ceremony on Friday, where she represented Education Cabinet Secretary Julis Ogamba.

She spoke as the majority of student leaders from public universities called for the disbandment of the five-band financing model and the reinstating of the old system.

The PS said the government engaged all the stakeholders to revise the fee structure to ensure all deserving students would not miss their education, with the varsity administration directed to ensure they display their fee structures to conform with the government's guidelines.

"In realigning the fees based on the stakeholders' involvement, the cost of degree programmes was slashed by between 15 per cent and 40 per cent," she said.

The PS added that the Higher Education Loans Board (Helb) has disbursed Sh41 billion to more than one million students in universities and technical institutions.

Some 1,458 students graduated with degrees and diplomas during the ceremony.

The university's Vice Chancellor Dickson Nyariki said the institution was ranked the third position in Kenya and 1,214 globally through the Times Higher Education (THE) impact ranking.

"The global event provides a platform for showcasing cutting-edge research, fostering multidisciplinary collaboration and engaging with thought leaders from around the world," said Prof Nyariki.

Varsity Chancellor Justin Irina lauded the establishment of the Climate Smart Agriculture FarmLab in the School of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences at Mariira Farm in Kigumo, in collaboration with the Alliance of Biodiversity and the International Centre for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT).