KUCCPS portal to open by end month for University applications

The Kenya Universities and Colleges Central Placement Service (KUCCPS) is set to open its application portal before the end of the month.

The move will allow more than 200,000 students who qualified for university admission in the 2024 KCSE examinations to apply for placement.

Education Cabinet Secretary Julius Ogamba informed the National Assembly Committee on Education that the placement process would proceed despite financial uncertainties affecting higher education institutions.

"There was no clear understanding regarding KUCCPS and university funding, especially given that the current funding model was shaped by a court decision. We agreed to first open the KUCCPS portal," Ogamba told MPs.

"Additionally, we agreed that by the end of this month, the portals would be open for university students. We are now working on what should happen next and addressing related issues."

KUCCPS Chief Executive Officer Agnes Mercy Wahome confirmed that universities had submitted their capacities and that the agency was waiting for board approval to announce the exact opening date.

"This week, we received the approved capacities from universities. They have declared capacities of about 300,000, so you can see that it's more than the students who qualified for admission. We'll place all students who qualified and who will apply for placement," Wahome told Nation.

However, students will not see the cost of academic programmes on the portal, following a High Court ruling that nullified the government's student funding model introduced in 2023.

"We can't display the cost of the programmes. Placement and funding have been delinked," Wahome said, clarifying that KUCCPS only handles student placement and not funding.

Funding Uncertainty

The court ruling has left students unsure about how they will finance their education, as the Universities Fund (UF) and the Higher Education Loans Board (Helb) have yet to clarify the funding structure for new students as well as continuing ones.

KUCCPS had challenged the ruling but was unsuccessful in obtaining a stay order, meaning the placement body cannot display tuition fees on its portal.

The decision disrupts the previous model, which allowed students to view tuition costs before applying for government scholarships and loans.

Meanwhile, government-sponsored students will no longer be placed in private universities.

In a letter dated January 15, 2024, Ogamba directed KUCCPS to stop placing students in private institutions, following an earlier directive from the president.

"This is a reiteration of the policy adopted following the roll-out of the student-centered funding model that delinked placement from funding, and under which students placed to public universities are eligible for both scholarships and loans," Ogamba stated in the letter.

The government still owes private universities over Sh45 billion in unpaid tuition fees for students placed there since 2016. Some affected students have already graduated, but the debt remains unsettled.