The Kenya Universities and Colleges Central Placement Service (KUCCPS) has this morning opened the applications portal for university, technical vocational education and training (Tvet) and teacher training colleges.
For degree courses, only the 2024 Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) candidates are eligible to apply. For Tvet and TTC applications, candidates who sat the KCSE examinations between 2000 and 2024 can apply. The portal will be closed on April 21 2025.
The opening of the portal comes just two days after the Court of Appeal suspended the December 2024 ruling of the High Court that declared the new funding model for higher education unconstitutional.
The minimum university entry grade is a C+ in the KCSE examinations. The placement agency made the announcement through its official X page.
"ATTENTION 2024 KCSE COHORT! You can now apply for degree courses via the @KUCCPS_Official portal. Log in to students.kuccps.net and apply. Deadline: April 21, 2025," the post reads.
The application process requires students to enter their KCSE index number, examination year, and a password, which can be their birth certificate number or KCPE index number. KUCCPS emphasised that students should carefully select their preferred programmes based on their qualifications and interests.
Last week, KUCCPS boss Dr Agnes Mercy Wahome told Nation.Africa universities that have declared a total capacity of approximately 300,000 slots, exceeding the 240,000 students who qualified.
"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," she said.
Education Cabinet Secretary Julius Ogamba earlier informed the Education Committee of the National Assembly that the placement process has been delinked from funding, whose model is under review following a High Court ruling that invalidated the 2023 funding model.
"We agreed to first open the KUCCPS portal. 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," he said.
Speaking in Homa Bay County on Thursday during the county education day, Mr Ogamba said the government will continue the implementation of the higher education funding model following the reprieve given by the Court of Appeal.
He said the Ministry of Education will, however, introduce necessary modifications in the model based on recommendations of a committee that was formed by President William Ruto last year before the High Court declared it unconstitutional. The contents of the report have never been made public, although the committee submitted its report to the President.
Apart from the court battle, the government also faces the challenge of funding university students as it requires at least Sh25.85 billion to fully finance the 246,391 students who qualified for university admission last year.
According to government data, the Sh25.85 billion required will be distributed through a combination of scholarships (Sh20.8 billion) and student loans (Sh5.05 billion).
Education PS Dr Beatrice Inyangala, while appearing before the Education Committee, revealed that for the first cohort under the model, the funding gap is Sh12.3 billion, noting that many students who applied for support this year remain unfunded, resulting in a Sh4.9 million shortfall.
Additionally, continuing students under the differentiated unit cost (DUC) model face a deficit of Sh4.8 billion, especially those graduating, while another Sh1 billion is needed for continuing students. This contributes to an overall shortfall of Sh13.7 million.
“This is very serious, if this money is not available, universities might actually close by the last quarter of this financial year, we are experiencing a lot of problems, Strikes are becoming more frequent, and students are dropping out — not because they lack ability, but because they lack financial support,” she said.
For more details, students can contact KUCCPS via their official social media pages. (@KUCCPS_Official) or visit their website at www.kuccps.ac.ke.
Additionally, inquiries can be made through the provided helplines: 0205137400 and 0723954927.
