Government financed 198,567 government-sponsored students in public universities in the 2025/2026 financial year, against a target of 154,789.

📋 Breaking It Down

Public universities enrolled 28 per cent more government-sponsored students than planned in the year to June, piling pressure on already stretched infrastructure and academic staff.

The latest Controller of Budget (CoB) report shows that the government financed 198,567 government-sponsored students in public universities in the 2025/2026 financial year, against a target of 154,789.

This was an overshoot of 43,778 students, or 28.3 per cent above the target, highlighting the growing demand for university education and the challenge of matching enrolment with available resources.

📌 What You Need to Know

Overall enrolment in public universities also exceeded the government’s projections. The State Department for Higher Education had projected 654,987 students but recorded 661,832 by June 30, 2026, surpassing the target by 6,845.

The rising numbers come as universities face mounting pressure to expand teaching facilities, laboratories, accommodation and other essential services while ensuring they have enough academic staff to meet students’ needs.

The strain is evident in several infrastructure projects that remain incomplete years after construction began.

At the Technical University of Kenya (TUK), a project to construct an administration and tuition block that began in 2015 and was scheduled for completion in June 2026 was only 34 per cent complete.

The Technical University of Kenya campus along along Haile Selassie Avenue in Nairobi.

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📰 Source: Nation Africa