The government has announced a significant reduction in university fees for all academic programmes in public institutions, offering financial relief to thousands of students and their families.
In a letter addressed to university managements, Higher Education Principal Secretary Dr. Beatrice Muganda Inyangala said the revised fees will take effect from September 1, 2025, and will apply to both new and continuing students.
“The Government of Kenya is pleased to announce a landmark rationalisation of public university fees based on the Student-Centred Funding Model,” Dr. Inyangala stated.
“This bold step reaffirms our commitment to ensuring affordable, accessible, and quality university education,” She added.
The fee cut follows months of consultations with the public, students, and higher education stakeholders.
PS Inyangala further revealed that the fee cut directly respond to concerns raised by students and their families over the rising cost of education.
Public universities are now required to revise their admissions and finance portals to reflect the new fee structure ahead of the September intake.
“Public universities are hereby directed to adopt the new fees schedule, effective 1 September, 2025 for first year as well as continuing students. All public universities are further directed to update their admissions and Finance portals to reflect the revised fees of academic programmes.”
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The government emphasized that the entire cost of programmes will continue to be met through a combination of tuition fees, scholarships and loans based on the needs of individual students.
To guide the implementation of the revised structure, the Ministry also released a detailed schedule outlining the new minimum and maximum fees per semester for various academic programme clusters in public universities and their constituent colleges.
Under the revised structure, Programmes like Medicine, Dentistry, Veterinary medicine, and Pharmacy will cost a minimum of Sh12, 343 and a maximum of Sh75, 000 per semester.
Architecture and engineering programmes will cost between Sh12,960 and Sh57,888, while computing and built environment studies will cost between Sh12,960 and Sh51,840.
Health sciences and nursing courses fall in the range of Sh14,400 to Sh57,600, while agriculture-related programmes such as natural resource management and food science will cost between Sh9,720 and Sh45,603.
Below is the revised fees for Public Universities and Constituent Colleges of Public Universities.
| University Programmes | Minimum New Fees Per Semester (in Ksh) | Maximum New Fees Per Semester (in Ksh) |
| Medicine Pre-Clinical | 12,960 | 51,840 |
| Medicine Clinical
|
22,371 | 75,000 |
| Dentistry Pre-Clinical
|
12,960 | 51,840 |
| Dentistry Clinical
|
22,371 | 75,000 |
| Veterinary Medicine Pre-Clinical
|
12,343 | 49,371 |
| Veterinary Medicine Clinical
|
20,546 | 75,000 |
| Pharmacy- Pre-Clinical
|
12,343 | 49,371 |
| Pharmacy-Clinical
|
19,152 | 75,000 |
| Architectural Studies -Architecture Part 1 | 12,960 | 51,840 |
| Architecture Professional (Part II)
|
14,472 | 57,888 |
| Engineering, Surveying
|
14,256 | 57,024 |
| The Built Environment and Design-Construction, Real Estate, Urban and Regional Planning, Landscape Architecture, Design, Computing | 12,960 | 51,840 |
| Health Sciences, Nursing, Clinical Medicine (BSC), Medical Laboratory Science and Technology | 14,400 | 57,600 |
| Animal Science, Radiography, Sport Science. Medical Psychology, Physical therapy, Public Health, Environmental Health, Community Health and Development | 13,082 | 52,326 |
| Food Sciences, Food Science and Technology, Food and Nutrition | 11,401 | 45,603 |
| Agriculture, Natural Resource Management and the Natural Environment, Wildlife Science and Management | 9,720 | 38,880 |
| Applied Sciences and Education (Science and Technology)-Education (Science, Tech, and Special Needs), Exercise and Sport Science, Biochemistry, Biotechnology, Biomedical Sciences, Applied Microbiology and Molecular Biology, Applied and Technical Physics, Applied and Technical Chemistry, Applied and Technical Biology, Statistics, Actuarial Science, Financial Engineering, Environmental Science. | 11,628 | 46,512 |
| Basic Sciences Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Geography (B.Sc.)
|
10,659 | 42,636 |
| Applied Social Sciences and the Arts (Professional) Hospitality, Media and Communication Studies, Library and Information Studies, Business Information Technology, Sport Science and Management, Fashion Design, Interior Design, Music (B.Mus.), Civil Aviation Management, Maritime Management, Agribusiness Management, Theatre and Film Studies, Fine Art, Food Service and Management, Law | 9,690 | 38,760 |
| Business, Education (Arts), Economics
|
7,525 | 30,101 |
| Applied Humanities and Social Sciences-Geography (B.A.), Public Administration, Psychology, Music (B.A.), Peace and Security Studies, Disaster Management, Anthropology, Languages, BA with Education, Language and Communication, International Relations and Diplomacy, Social Work and Development Studies
|
6,982 | 27,927 |
| Basic Humanities and Social Sciences Economics, Geography (BA.), History, Philosophy, Religion, Sociology, Literature, Political Science, Linguistics | 5,814 | 23,256 |
