A total of 74,046 government-sponsored students are set to join public universities in September.
The Kenya Universities and Colleges Central Placement Service’s board approved the selection process at a meeting in Nairobi on Thursday.
“Selected students will receive text messages indicating which university they will join,” said chief executive offocer John Muraguri.
The agency will release details of the selection at a universities stakeholders conference at the Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development in Nairobi on Friday.
Mr Muraguri said 6,000 more students will be admitted to the 33 public universities and colleges compared to last year.
“We factor all aspects in the selection, including affirmative action,” said Mr Muraguri, adding that 56 per cent of the slots had been taken up by men.
Mr Muraguri said he is yet to receive a government report recommending the admission of 10,000 students to private universities on a pilot basis.
The cutoff point for placement was set at B of 60 points for male candidates and B− of 58 points for female candidates.
A total of 165,766 candidates attained the minimum entry qualification of C+ and above in last year’s examination.
The Higher Education Loans Board (Helb) has been allocated Sh9.1 billion by the National Treasury, up from last year’s Sh7.5 billion, for student loans.
Chief Executive Charles Ringera, however, said Sh11 billion was needed to run its activities. He said Sh10 billion will be loaned out and Sh1 billion spent on running costs. “With Sh9.1 billion, we will need to improve loan recovery by Sh800 million to Sh1.2 billion and mobilise resources from development partners, multilateral lenders, devolved funds and corporates,” said Mr Ringera.
Moi University will admit the highest number with 5,825 students, followed by Kenyatta University at 5,598 and the University of Nairobi with 5,374.
Garissa University College will admit 470 students after it reopened in January following a terrorist attack in April last year that left 147 people dead, including 142 students.
Kaimosi University College, a constituent college of Masinde Muliro University, will admit 905 students.
Egerton University will accommodate 3,147, Jomo Kenyatta University of Science and Technology (4,714), Maseno (3,829), Technical University of Kenya (1,902) while the Technical University of Mombasa will have 2,190 new students.
Others admissions are Dedan Kimathi University (1,319), Pwani University (2,450), Chuka University (3,240), Kisii University (2,001), Maasai Mara University (2,565), Meru University (1,335), South Eastern Kenya University (1,845) and Jaramogi Oginga Odinga University (2,136), among others.
Last year 67,790 students joined public universities.
