All students placed in colleges or universities to get full funding from government- Ruto

All university and college students will, from September 2026, receive 100 per cent government funding under a new higher education financing model announced by President William Ruto.

Speaking at State House on Tuesday, Ruto said the new system, awaiting Parliament approval, will ensure every student admitted to an institution of higher learning gets full support regardless of their financial background.

He said the proposed model will replace the current funding system, which provides scholarships and loans based on a student’s level of financial need.

The President said the government had submitted amendments to Parliament to establish a new framework that will guarantee full financial support for all students admitted to universities and colleges.

“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. 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," Ruto said.

He noted that the new approach is meant to ensure a student’s family background does not determine whether they can access higher education.

“The background of any child in Kenya will no longer matter. What will matter is how well they perform,” he said.

The President urged Parliament to fast-track amendments to the Higher Education Loans Board Act to allow the new model to take effect from the September 2026 intake.

He said the changes would help ensure that students who qualify for competitive courses do not miss opportunities because their families cannot afford the required contributions.

“I want to implore Parliament to expedite amendments to the Higher Education Loans Board so that beginning September we can make sure that any child who qualifies for medicine does not fail to study medicine because their parents cannot afford to pay the household contribution," Ruto said.

The President revealed that the government had reviewed previous higher education financing systems after they failed to provide enough support to universities and students. He said the Differentiated Unit Cost (DUC) model did not achieve its intended goal and instead reduced funding available to universities.

“We tried the Differentiated Unit Cost (DUC) model. I think everyone knows it did not work because it caused funding to universities to decline. When we promised 80 per cent funding, it went down to about 40 per cent, and most universities suffered,” he said.

The President said the government later introduced a model where parents would contribute part of the cost while the government provided a combination of scholarships and loans.

“We then worked on what we believed was a more equitable model, where parents would contribute a small portion, while the government would provide a combination of loans and scholarships. We thought that would create equity, but it was still not good enough,” he said.

Ruto said the government has now decided to move to a universal funding system that will cater for all students.

“We are doing this because we want to be deliberate. Countries that are ahead of us and that we benchmark against have invested in high-quality education. Education is a central pillar. My team tells me that education makes us equal and has no equal. That is where we are taking this,” he said.

“As government, we shall now study this proposal carefully. We shall engage with its recommendations, consult widely, and once that process is done, I will communicate the way forward as we shape Kenya's next long-term vision."