Over 70 percent of Private University Slots Lie Empty, Deepening Financial Strain

Private universities are staring at another difficult financial year after more than 71 per cent of the degree places they offered through the placement service remained unfilled.

Data from the Kenya Universities and Colleges Central Placement Service (KUCCPS) shows that only 17,151 students were placed in the 33 private institutions, leaving 42,891 of the 60,042 declared slots vacant.

At a recorded occupancy rate of 28.5 percent, it means more than seven in 10 degree slots declared for this year’s student placement in the private universities remained unfilled.

The data shows KCA University has the highest number of empty slots at 3,536, followed by St Paul’s University at 2,958, Daystar University at 2,891 and Mt Kenya University at 2,868.

On the flip side, Riara University has the fewest unfilled slots at 25, followed by Uzima University at 69, Outspan Global University at 80 and the African Talent University at 120.

The low uptake of the slots is expected to deepen financial strain on private universities, whose operations are largely funded through tuition fees.

Even with fewer students, institutions must still meet fixed costs such as staff salaries, utilities, maintenance and debt obligations, squeezing already tight budgets.

In March, Higher Education PS Beatrice Inyangala was hard pressed to explain a Sh60.2 billion debt to private universities, which nearly doubled in a year despite the halt of government-sponsored admissions.

In the financial year 2016/2017 the government introduced a policy shift allowing the KUCCPS to place students in both public and private universities to help ease an admission crisis in public universities back then.

At the time the government ended the arrangement in the FY 2022/2023, the pending bill figure stood at Sh15 billion and has inexplicably been on an upward trajectory ever since at an alarming rate, something the legislators have questioned.

The monies owed to a particular private university is based on the number of students placed in the institution which is also tied to declared capacities as verified by the Commission for University Education (CUE).

The latest placement figures suggest that growth in private university enrolment has stalled, after it nearly doubled over the past four years , reflecting a gradual shift in learners’ perception of private institutions.

Despite growing interest in private universities, the latest placement figures suggest the momentum has stalled, with thousands of available places still going unfilled.

Private universities recorded a sharp rise in student placements in 2024, when the number nearly doubled from 9,622 in 2023 to 18,557. Since then, however, growth has stalled, with placements declining marginally to 17,873 in 2025 and 17,151 this year.

The CUE approved a total of 327,157 vacancies in 43 public and 33 private universities for the 2026/2027 Placement Cycle.

Education cabinet secretary Julius Ogamba noted that this year, a total of 8,915 students who qualified for degree programmes in the 2025 KCSE examination opted for non-degree programmes in tertiary institutions.

Universities and colleges to which students have been placed are now expected to immediately embark on preparations for admission and communicate appropriate joining instructions.