Ruto announces full state funding for university, college students

President William Ruto has announced that every student admitted to a public university or college will receive full government funding under proposed reforms to the higher education financing model.

The President said the changes, contained in amendments before Parliament, are aimed at ensuring that no qualified student misses out on higher education because of their financial background.

Speaking at State House while receiving the report Developing a New Vision for Kenya: Towards a First World Nation, Ruto said the government is shifting to a universal funding model after previous approaches failed to address the needs of students and institutions.

"It will not matter the background of any child in Kenya, but how good they are," Ruto said.

He said the government had experimented with different university funding models, including the differentiated funding system, but acknowledged that they had not achieved the intended outcomes.

"Going into the future, we have tried to grapple with how to fund our universities. We tried the differentiated model. It did not work because it made most universities close down," he said.

Ruto said the government had then introduced what it considered a more equitable approach, where parents would contribute according to their ability, but it has now resolved to move to a universal model.

"We have worked on what we thought was equity, where parents would pay. Now we are moving to universal under the amendments we have taken to Parliament," he said.

Under the proposed changes, every student who qualifies for admission to a university or college will have their education fully financed.

"Going forward, any student who has passed and is placed in a college or university, each of them will get full funding for their education," the President said.

He added that parents who are willing and able to contribute towards their children's education will still have the option to do so, while those who cannot afford the costs will receive government support.

"It will be the choice of parents to pay. If they don't want to pay, we have a model to pay for them. We are doing it because we want to be deliberate," Ruto said.

The announcement comes as the government seeks to overhaul higher education financing following widespread criticism and legal challenges over the previous funding model.