Government Reveals Plans to Increase University, College Fees Every 4 Years
Education stakeholders now want the government to review university tuition fees every four years.
The proposal was made during a workshop led by Higher Education and Research Principal Secretary Beatrice Inyangala and attended by vice chancellors and principals of constituent colleges.
Among thematic areas addressed by the team was student fees increase fees and provision of a financing mechanism.
Universities Fund CEO Geoffrey Monari said school fees paid in institutions of higher learning should be reviewed from time to time.
“Tuition fees should be reviewed every four years based on the inflationary adjustment to reflect the needs of universities and students,” Monari said.
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If this proposal is adopted, then it means parents with university students will pay more school fees after every school calendar.
“This may include targeted free tuition, which will take into consideration the financial capability of individual households,” the Universities Fund CEO said.
Monari also called for consideration into tough economic times, which he said affect the running of activities in schools.
For instance, tuition in the majority of the public colleges were last reviewed in 2000.
“Fees should be reviewed from time to time based on inflationary adjustments and we also need to look into criteria for fees adjustment to be set,” he said.
The President’s Council of Economic Advisers chairman David Ndii identified six key thematic areas in addressing the challenge of funding of public universities.
Ndii and members of his committee were listening to views from university stakeholders on the financial challenges they are facing.
He listed the thematic areas as pending bills, universities finding alternative source of income, embrace public- private partnerships and utilisation of available assets.
Others are independence of universities to be able to determine the programmes they offer and autonomy.
The vice chancellors were advised to form small teams that will work on the six thematic areas and develop a work plan on how to deal with the issues.
The team also discussed the proposed merger of three major funding agencies for the higher education sector.
Monari gave a few procedures that should be followed when merging Universities Fund, Higher Education Loans Board and TVET funding agency.
“We propose that the newly established body should have two directorates namely, Higher Education Grants Management Directorate to manage funding of universities and TVET institutions,” he said.
Higher Education Student Aid and Loans Directorate will then be responsible of managing students’ scholarships, loans and bursaries.
The Universities Fund CEO further said that two members of Helb and Universities Fund should be appointed in the new commission to ensure smooth transition.
“All members of staff should be absorbed into the new organisation on equal and fair terms. Staff should not be disadvantaged by the transition,” Monari said.
If the three agencies are merged, it means universities will receive funds in one batch.
Funds meant for the differentiated unit cost and students loans will all be disbursed by one agency.
The Universities Fund is mandated to develop transparent and fair criteria for the allocation of funds to public universities and issue conditional grants to private universities.
It also apportions funds to public universities and issues conditional grants to private universities in accordance with the criteria established.
The mandate of Helb is to source for funds and provide financing (through loans, scholarships and bursaries) to Kenyans pursuing education in institutions of higher learning in and outside Kenya.
