President William Ruto has clarified why students enrolling in private universities will not receive government scholarships under the new funding model.
On Sunday, August 25, 2024, President Ruto explained that students attending private institutions will only have access to loans, not scholarships. He detailed that many private universities receive funding from companies and other sponsors, which supports their operations and programs. In contrast, public universities depend entirely on government funding.
Ruto noted that previous attempts to offer scholarships to students in private universities led to significant debt accumulation.
“The reason we cannot provide scholarships under this model is because past efforts to do so resulted in substantial financial trouble for private universities. We ended up with a debt of about Ksh 51 billion,” he said.
“One private university even had to close down. It is better to adhere to our current plan than to continue accruing debt.”
The new funding model allocates financial support based on students’ financial needs, shifting from the previous Differentiated Unit Cost model, which focused on the specific courses students selected. The new approach divides funding into five bands, each corresponding to a family’s monthly income.
Ruto also hinted at possible adjustments to the loan repayment scheme. He suggested that it s unfair to require graduates to start repaying their loans before securing employment.
“We must address the grace period issue to ensure that no student is obligated to begin repayment until they have a job,” Ruto emphasized.
However, he ruled out the possibility of reducing loan interest rates due to current financial constraints.
