Ruto Scraps Income-Based University Funding, Promises Full Sponsorship for All Students.
President William Ruto has announced that the Government will fully fund every student admitted to a public university or college under proposed amendments currently before Parliament, marking a significant shift from the income-based university funding model introduced in recent years.
The proposed reforms are intended to ensure that all students placed in institutions of higher learning receive full government funding regardless of their financial background. According to the President, the amendments are designed to eliminate barriers to higher education for qualified students.
President Ruto made the announcement on Tuesday, July 21, during a meeting at State House while receiving a report titled Developing a New Vision for Kenya: Towards a First World Nation.
Speaking during the event, the President said the Government had reviewed various university financing models over the years before settling on a universal funding approach.
“It will not matter the background of any child in Kenya, but how good they are,” President Ruto said.
Government to Replace Income-Based University Funding Model
The President stated that the Government had previously implemented several university funding approaches in an effort to establish a sustainable financing system for higher education institutions.
He noted that the differentiated university funding model introduced in previous years failed to achieve its intended objectives.
“Going into the future, we have tried to grapple with how to fund our universities. We tried the differentiated model. It did not work because it made most universities close down,” he said.
President Ruto added that the Government subsequently introduced a funding framework requiring parents to contribute according to their financial capacity. However, he said the administration has now resolved to replace that model with a universal funding system.
“We have worked on what we thought was equity, where parents would pay. Now we are moving to universal under the amendments we have taken to Parliament,” he said.
Every Admitted Student to Receive Full Government Funding
Under the proposed amendments, every student who qualifies for admission and is placed in a university or college will receive full government financing for their education.
President Ruto stated that the reforms are intended to guarantee access to higher education for all qualified learners without consideration of their economic status.
“Going forward, any student who has passed and is placed in a college or university, each of them will get full funding for their education,” he said.
The President further explained that parents who are willing and financially able to contribute towards their children’s education will still have the option to do so. However, students whose families are unable or unwilling to meet the costs will receive government funding under the proposed framework.
“It will be the choice of parents to pay. If they don’t want to pay, we have a model to pay for them. We are doing it because we want to be deliberate,” President Ruto added.
Proposed Changes Before Parliament
According to the President, the universal funding framework has been incorporated into amendments that have already been submitted to Parliament for consideration.
The legislative proposals seek to replace the current income-based university funding model with a universal government financing system covering all students admitted to universities and colleges.
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Background to the Funding Reforms
The proposed policy follows several years of debate surrounding university funding reforms introduced by the Kenya Kwanza administration in 2023.
The income-based funding model attracted criticism from students, parents, universities and other stakeholders, resulting in legal challenges.
In 2024, the High Court suspended implementation of the model following petitions challenging its legality. The matter later proceeded to the Court of Appeal, which overturned the High Court decision in 2025, allowing the funding framework to continue pending further legal processes.
The latest amendments announced by President Ruto represent the Government’s proposal to replace the income-based funding system with a universal model under which every student admitted to a university or college would receive full state funding, subject to parliamentary approval.
Ruto Scraps Income-Based University Funding, Promises Full Sponsorship for All Students.
