University enrollment in Kenya 2017-2023

Around 563,000 students were enrolled in universities in Kenya during the academic year 2022/23. The number increased from roughly 562,100 in 2021/22. According to the source, the growth was related to an expansion in the number of government sponsored students. Men constituted majority of students in Kenyan universities, some 322,760 against 240,170 thousand women.

 Public versus private 

  Most of the students enrolled in higher education in Kenya attended public universities, making up a total of 448,500 in 2021/2022. Kenyatta University and the University of Nairobi were the preferred institutions: Combined, they accounted for toughly one-third of the students enrolled in public institutions. The number of enrolees in private tertiary institutions reached 113,600 in the same period.

 Kenyans with higher education

  The most recent census conducted in Kenya revealed that 3.5 percent of the country's population had a university degree as the highest educational level completed in 2019. Other seven percent finished a middle level or technical training after the secondary level. In comparison, some 14 percent of the population aged 15-29 years in East Africa had an upper-secondary or tertiary education in 2020. This share is projected to increase to 19 percent in 2030.