More than 2,000 non-Kenyans qualified for university places after they sat for the 2025 Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) examination.
Figures released by the Kenya Universities and Colleges Central Placement Service (KUCCPS) show the agency will place 268,700 Form Four graduates against 270,715 who attained the minimum C+ qualification, leaving out 2,015 foreigners.
A Plain has learnt that KUCCPS places only Kenyans while the Ministry of Education figures include foreigners who sat for the annual exam.
KUCCPS also said in a statement that it received results for 980,444 eligible candidates against the KCSE 2025 population of 993,226, showing 12,782 non-Kenyans sat for the exam.
“In 2025 KCSE examination, KUCCPS received results for 980,444 eligible candidates, out of whom 268,700 attained a mean grade of C+ and above, qualifying them for placement to degree programmes,” the placement agency said in a statement.
The agency places applicants according to their priorities, KCSE performance and available capacities.
From the KUCCPS data, about 16 percent of the 12,782 foreign students who sat for the exam qualified to join Kenyan universities. Kenya has 43 public and 31 private universities, 251 public TVET colleges, including 33 within universities.
Foreigners sitting for Kenyan examinations are drawn from refugees and expatriates whose children are enroll in Nairobi and other regions across the country.
When Education Cabinet Secretary, Julius Ogamba, released the KCSE in January, he did not release the number of foreigners who sat for the national exam that will be phased out in the next two years, when the inaugural senior school class sits for its first national examination.
Although KUCCPS will not place the 2,015 non-Kenyans to universities, the foreigners have room to join both public and private higher learning institutions as international students, one of the streams that generate revenues for the Kenyan institutions.
Universities across the world are competing for international students that give them top dollar, considering they pay commercial rates. Because of limited facilities, Kenyan public universities have been struggling to attract international students, leading to increased calls of embracing open and distance learning.
However, private universities in Kenya are teeming with foreign learners whose benefactors are looking for unique courses, modern facilities, leading faculty members and environments that stimulate teaching, research, and community service.
Foreigners also have a chance to join technical and vocational institutions and colleges that offer some competitive courses whose university cut-off points are prohibitive.
Because of the competition and attractiveness of some lucrative courses such as nursing, some candidates have opted to start climbing their career trees slowly while focused on climbing to attain university degree.
