By James Wakahiu
According to UniRank results released last week, University of Nairobi (UoN) was ranked as the best public university in Kenya. Kenyatta University came second. Strathmore University was listed as the best private institution of higher learning in Kenya and took the third position nationally.
The United States International University of Africa (USIU- Africa) was ranked fourth while Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT), Egerton University and Moi University took fifth, sixth and seventh positions respectively.
Mount Kenya University (MKU) was ranked eighth, Catholic University of Eastern Africa took position nine and Kenya Methodist University took position 10 to complete the list of top 10 ranked institutions of higher learning.
The 2021 ranking by UniRank considered several factors in its analysis of the universities. Some of the metrics used included being chartered and offering at least four-year undergraduate degrees or postgraduate degrees . Another criterion was delivering courses predominantly in a traditional, face-to-face, non-distance education format.
An analysis of the report showed that newly accredited universities, both private and public, were struggling to gain popularity among aspiring students and their parents and guardians.
UniRank is one of the leading international higher education directory and search engine featuring reviews and rankings of over 13,800 officially recognized universities and colleges in 200 countries.
“Our aim is to provide a non-academic League Table of the top Kenyan Universities based on valid, unbiased and non-influenceable web metrics provided by independent web intelligence sources rather than data submitted by the Universities themselves,” the organization said in a statement.
A similar ranking by Webometrics listed UoN as the best university in Kenya followed by Kenyatta University, Egerton University, Moi University and JKUAT.
A recent report showed there were 6,206 foreign students admitted to various institutions of higher learning across Kenya. UoN had the highest number of international learners at 1,300. In private campuses, USIU, Strathmore and MKU recorded the highest number of learners from other countries.
