Factors affecting enrolment in universities in Kenya: case study of Nairobi city

Abstract

Most of the children who complete Secondary school do not make it to University. This is due to many reasons that are social, environmental or economic in nature. Some families cannot afford to send their children to university because the cost of university education is too high to afford. Families associate education with benefits or losses that come as a cost either directly or indirectly in terms of fees, transport, cost of accommodation and food or as an opportunity cost associated with lower resources available for household consumption. This opportunity cost will depend on family specific characteristics and the value the parents attach to education of a child. Apart from household characteristics, factors such as the capacity of the universities and costs associated with some courses, due to the facilities used in those courses have a negative effect on enrolment in university .This is more evident in enrolment in the science courses like Medicine which admits a small number of students and the cost of tuition is about Ksh 500,000 per year. This is beyond reach by most households. The government policy through HELB to give loans to only regular programme students also affects enrolment because the regular programme can only take a fixed number of students due to inadequate accommodation. Further still, environmental factors like the distance of the university from one's place of residence, impacts negatively on inrolment in university. The further away the University is from the place of residence the lower the rate of enrolment of a child from a household. This is because the cost of transport, accommodation and food will be reduced if the distance is short.