Commission for Higher Education Authorizes Two New Varsities

The Commission for Higher Education (CHE) has allowed two new private universities to offer degree programs in the country, a move that has increased the number of universities in the country to 36.

The country now has seven public universities, 14 privately chartered universities, 13 with letters of interim authority and two registered private universities.

Riara University which will be offering programs including, Bachelor of Business Administration and Bachelor of Arts in Education among others, and has a school of law and a school of business.

Pioneer International University will be offering programs including Bachelor of Commerce and Bachelor of Science in Information Technology.

Prof Everett Standa, chief executive officer and secretary of CHE said that the letters of interim authority will allow the two institutions to set up a governing body for the university, develop physical facilities, get academic resources, advertise their programs and admit students.

“As we work with university institutions, we insist that quality standards are maintained and for many this may appear to be a long and tedious exercise,” said Prof Standa.

The authorisation of the two universities comes on the back of an increasing number of high school graduates amid few admission spots in the public universities.

A total of 411,783 candidates sat for the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Examination and 41,879 met the cut off mark for admission into local public universities.

This means that those who are seeking to pursue degree programs will need to look for alternative places either through the parallel (self-sponsored) programs in public universities or pursue higher education in private universities.

Original story in Business Daily