NAIROBI, Kenya, July 21 – President William Ruto has announced plans to introduce universal government funding for all students admitted to universities and colleges, regardless of their family’s financial background, in a major policy reversal that would scrap the controversial means-tested higher education funding model if approved by Parliament.

📻 Breaking It Down

Speaking at State House, Nairobi, during the launch of a report on Kenya’s long-term development vision beyond Vision 2030, Ruto said the government had submitted amendments to Parliament to anchor the new financing framework in law and urged lawmakers to fast-track the legislation before universities reopen in September.

“Going forward, any university student, so long as they have passed their exams and have been placed in a college or a university, each one of them will get full funding for their higher education,” Ruto said.

“It will be the choice of parents if they want to pay. But if parents don’t want to pay, we now have a model that will pay for every child.”

📌 What You Need to Know

If enacted, the reforms would mark a significant shift from the Kenya Kwanza administration’s means-tested funding model introduced in 2023, which placed students into financial bands to determine the level of government scholarships, loans and household contributions.

The system has faced sustained criticism from students, universities and the courts over concerns about its implementation, fairness and sustainability.

Acknowledging the shortcomings of previous reforms, Ruto admitted that the differentiated funding model had failed to deliver the intended outcomes.

“We tried the differentiated model. It didn’t work because it made most of our universities almost close down. While we promised 80 per cent funding, we went down to 40 per cent and most universities suffered,” he said.

He said the government later introduced a hybrid model combining scholarships, loans and parental contributions to promote equity, but conceded it still left many deserving students unable to pursue courses they had qualified for.

“We have worked on what we thought was equity… but it’s not good enough. Now we are moving to universal under the amendments we have taken to Parliament.”

📰 Source: Capital FM Kenya