20,000 told to apply afresh for university

What you need to know:

  • The Kenya Universities and Colleges Central Placement Service (Kuccps) said the students had failed to meet the requirements of their first choices and have until June 20 to make new applications.
  • Kuccps Chief Executive Officer John Muraguri said the candidates had missed out on their career choices because they went for competitive courses that do not match their scores.
  • Students also ignored environmental studies courses during the selection that saw popular courses such as medicine and law being filled in all institutions that offer them.

More than 20,000 students who qualified for university education last year have been told to submit new applications for their preferred courses.

The Kenya Universities and Colleges Central Placement Service (Kuccps) said the students had failed to meet the requirements of their first choices and have until June 20 to make new applications.

Statistics from Kuccps indicate that 67,124 students will join public universities while 41, 550 students will join public colleges.

Kuccps Chief Executive Officer John Muraguri said the candidates had missed out on their career choices because they went for competitive courses that do not match their scores.

“Some students also did not come forward to revise their courses and that is why we are giving them the final chance to revise their choices,” said Mr Muraguri.

He said candidates will be informed in July of the selection outcome and join university in September.

Bachelor of arts courses were the most unpopular, with more than 3,000 unfilled places.

Students also ignored environmental studies courses during the selection that saw popular courses such as medicine and law being filled in all institutions that offer them.

Masinde Muliro University of Science and Technology had the highest number of unfilled chances at 1,644, followed by Moi University(1,447) and University of Nairobi(1,154).

Dedan Kimathi University of Science and Technology had the lowest number of unfilled chances at 42, in the institution’s bachelor of science (leather technology) course.

Mr Muraguri said the cut-off point for placement under government sponsored programmes remains a B (plain) of 60 points for male and a B-(minus) of 58 points for female candidates.

“All candidates with a minimum overall grade of C- and above and who have not benefited from government sponsorship in the past are eligible to apply for diploma programmes,” he said.

This year, university admissions increased to 67,124 compared with 57,250 last year while the colleges admission also increased to 41, 550 from 36,995 last year.

Kenyatta University will get the highest number of students at 5,942 while Kirinyaga University College will get the lowest at 534.

GARISSA EXCLUDED

Garissa University College, which was attacked by terrorists in April leaving 142 students dead, will not admit students this year.

Last year, about 149,717 candidates scored C+ and above in the 2014 Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education examinations results which is a minimum grade for university.

In the budget estimates tabled before the National Assembly, National Treasury Cabinet Secretary Henry Rotich allocated Sh52.9 billion to universities compared with Sh34 billion allocated last year. The Higher Education Loans Board (Helb) has been allocated Sh7.5 billion for the disbursement of loans to students pursuing higher education.