President William Ruto has announced a proposal to fully fund higher education for every student placed in a university or college through the Kenya Universities and Colleges Central Placement Service (KUCCPS), marking a significant shift from the government’s current student-centred funding model.

The proposed reforms, which the President said are targeted for implementation from the September 2026 intake, will require Parliament to amend the relevant laws before they can take effect.

Speaking during a meeting at State House, Nairobi, on Tuesday, Ruto said the new approach is intended to ensure that no student who qualifies for admission is unable to pursue higher education because of financial constraints.

“Going forward, any student who has passed their examinations and has been placed in a college or a university will receive full funding for their higher education,” the President said.

He added that under the proposed system, parents would no longer be required to contribute towards tuition unless they choose to do so.

“It will be the choice of parents whether they want to contribute. If they choose not to, we now have a model through which the government will fully fund every child.”

According to the President, the proposed policy will apply to students admitted to public universities, Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) institutions, the Kenya Medical Training College (KMTC), and other eligible tertiary institutions under the government’s placement system.

The announcement represents a departure from the student-centred funding model introduced in 2023, under which government scholarships and Higher Education Loans Board (HELB) loans are allocated based on a means-testing framework that assesses a student’s financial need. Under that model, students are placed into different funding bands, with government support varying according to their assessed household income.

Ruto said the government reviewed the existing framework after receiving concerns that some students admitted to high-cost programmes, including medicine, engineering and other specialised courses, were unable to enrol because they could not raise the required household contribution.

The President said the proposed changes are designed to eliminate that barrier by guaranteeing funding for all students admitted through the national placement process.

However, the reforms are not yet in force. Ruto said the government will first seek parliamentary approval to amend the Higher Education Loans Board (HELB) Act and other relevant legislation to provide a legal framework for the new funding model.

Until those amendments are enacted, the current university funding system remains in place.

The proposal comes after months of debate over the student-centred funding model, which has faced legal challenges and criticism from students, parents and education stakeholders over its implementation and the criteria used to determine funding levels. The government has consistently maintained that the model was introduced to allocate public resources more equitably based on financial need, while critics have argued that some students have still struggled to meet the remaining costs of higher education.

If Parliament approves the proposed legal changes, the reforms would represent one of the most significant changes to Kenya’s higher education financing framework in recent years, extending full government funding to all students placed in eligible tertiary institutions through KUCCPS.

The Ministry of Education is expected to provide further details on the implementation framework, funding mechanisms and timelines should the proposed legislative amendments be passed by Parliament.