4 - Higher Education Finance as a Public Good in Kenya

Abstract

 This article discusses the transformation of the higher education financing model and how this relates to the concept of higher education as a public good in the context of Kenya. Following independence in 1963, the new Kenya government – like most countries in sub-Saharan Africa that attained independence in this period – considered the establishment of a university to be one of the symbols of a republic and of national advancement. The government valued the public role of university education during this early phase of Kenya as a sovereign nation, even when access remained highly restricted. But, equally, the private benefits of being a university graduate were evident to the Kenyan citizenry. For two decades, Kenya had only one public university – the University of Nairobi – but after 1984 the state rapidly expanded higher education, partly in response to demand. Several universities have since been established, both public and private. Concurrently, the government has pursued a cost-sharing financing model to support this rapid expansion, which is contrary to the notion of higher education as a public good to be provided free of charge. This article examines this transformation of the financing model together with higher education as a public good and concludes that each has influenced the other in Kenya’s context.