- CUE data has revealed a widening staff-to-student ratio in public universities, rising to 51:1 in chartered universities and 77:1 in constituent colleges.
- Academic staff numbers have grown overall, but the increase has been driven mainly by private institutions and adjunct appointments rather than public chartered universities.
- Private chartered universities have improved their staffing ratios, contrasting sharply with the deteriorating situation in public institutions.
Kenya’s public universities are facing growing pressure to serve students with fewer academic staff, with the gap between student numbers and lecturers widening sharply between 2024 and 2025.
The latest data from the Commission for University Education (CUE) shows that public chartered universities had about 51 students for every academic staff member in 2025, up from about 44 in 2024. This means one academic staff member was serving an average of 51 students in 2025, compared to 44 the previous year.
The situation was even more pronounced in public university constituent colleges, where each academic staff member served about 77 students in 2025, up from about 61 in 2024. This sharp increase placed additional pressure on teaching, supervision and student support.
The worsening gap comes despite an overall increase in academic staff across Kenya’s universities. Academic staff numbers rose from 15,383 in 2024 to 16,434 in 2025, an increase of 1,051 staff. However, the growth was largely driven by private institutions and adjunct appointments, while public chartered universities recorded a decline in academic staff. In public chartered universities, academic staff fell from 10,555 in 2024 to 10,466 in 2025, and their share of academic staff across the university sector dropped from 68.62 per cent to 63.69 per cent during the period.
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At the same time, private chartered universities increased their academic staff from 4,286 to 5,315, helping push their share from 27.86 per cent to 32.34 per cent.
The staffing structure also changed significantly during the period. Adjunct academic staff increased from 758 in 2024 to 1,611 in 2025, making them one of the fastest-growing categories. Lecturers, who remained the largest academic staff category, declined slightly from 6,627 to 6,606, while tutorial fellows dropped from 3,119 to 2,971. The combination of rising student numbers and changes in the composition of academic staff points to mounting pressure on universities to maintain adequate teaching capacity.
The contrast with private chartered universities was stark. Their staffing situation improved, with each academic staff member serving about 29 students in 2025, compared to about 34 in 2024.
Public university constituent colleges had the highest student numbers per academic staff member in the 2025 data, with about 77 students for each staff member, followed by public chartered universities at about 51 students per staff member. Meanwhile, private constituent colleges had about eight students for every academic staff member, unchanged from 2024, while institutions operating under Letters of Interim Authority improved from about 11 students per staff member to about 10.
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The figures highlight a widening gap in staffing pressure between public and private university categories. For public institutions, the rising student numbers per staff member could translate into larger classes, heavier marking and supervision workloads and less time available for individual student engagement, particularly as enrolment pressures continue.
By Lizzy Aluga
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