Varsities root for fees increase

Public universities are seeking Cabinet approval on a proposal to increase college fees by nearly 100 per cent.

The tertiary institutions want the Cabinet to act fast and approve recommendations made previously by the Joint Admission Board, which had proposed that the government raise tuition fees from the current Sh16,000 paid by each regular student to at least Sh30,000 per year.

They say the new fees will enable them meet the high cost of education and finance capital projects.

According to Egerton University chancellor James Tuitoek, the current fees being paid by regular students were “too low” while those pursuing parallel courses were paying “very high charges”, a situation which, he said, could be reversed by reviewing the current fee structure.

Besides tuition fees, students also pay for accommodation, food and the library, increasing the fees to Sh50,000 per year. The government also pays about Sh120,000 for each student in the regular module directly to the universities.

Students who cannot afford the fees can apply to the Higher Education Loans Board for financial aid.

Prof Tuitoek told a Parliamentary Select Committee on Investment in Nakuru, last Friday, that the government should also consider harmonising regular and parallel degree programmes so that there can be uniform payment of fees. This, he said, would increase student intake and improve universities’ income.

His plea came a few weeks after the release of a government-funded report entitled “Financing University Education in Kenya”, which proposed the merging of the module one (regular) and module two (parallel) programmes, with one fee structure. It also recommended that fees covering institutionally-provided food and accommodation be increased.

If the proposal, written by leading education experts both locally and abroad, receives government approval, students in the regular programme will be the most affected.

According to the report, a system of tuition fees should also be established, to be phased in over a period of three years beginning, if possible, with the class entering the universities in 2011.