- Tinderet MP Julius Melly has backed government plans to introduce a new university financing model, arguing it will eliminate bottlenecks and flaws in the current means-testing system.
- Melly said the Student-Centred Funding Model failed due to families misrepresenting financial status, while chronic underfunding left universities struggling despite previous frameworks like the Differentiated Unit Cost model.
- The new plan will fully finance all admitted students upfront, with the government recovering costs through loans, aiming to create a simpler, fairer, and more sustainable system that supports equitable access to higher education.
Tinderet Member of Parliament and National Assembly Education Committee Chairperson Julius Melly has defended the government’s proposed reforms to university financing, saying the new funding model is intended to address the shortcomings that have long undermined equitable access to higher education.
Speaking during an interview with a local television station on Tuesday, July 28, Melly said the government is finalising a simpler and more transparent funding framework aimed at closing loopholes associated with the current system.
“We are trying to make sure that we have a funding model that does not have a lot of bottlenecks,” said the MP.
He said the Student-Centred Funding Model was introduced to replace the previous blanket subsidy system by allocating funding based on household income through means testing. However, he argued that the model has fallen short of its objectives, claiming that some families submitted inaccurate financial information to secure higher levels of government support.
“The biggest elephant in that funding formula was the means testing. It failed because some families could misrepresent their financial status to receive more funding,” said Melly.
The government plans to fully finance every student admitted to university before recovering the funds through student loans, effectively doing away with the controversial funding bands, the MP has said.
Melly argued that the core problem facing public universities is not the funding model itself but chronic underfunding by the government.
The DUC Funding Model and its shortcomings
Melly noted that the Differentiated Unit Cost (DUC) model, introduced in 2014, distributed funds based on factors such as student enrolment, academic programmes, staffing levels and institutional capacity.
However, he said the model became unsustainable after government allocations fell to below 20 per cent of the required funding, leaving universities burdened with mounting debts.
His remarks come months after President William Ruto defended the Student-Centred Funding Model during the 2025 State of the Nation Address, saying nearly 500,000 students had benefited from the programme since its introduction.
The President said the reforms were intended to place students at the centre of higher education financing by combining scholarships and loans based on need and merit.
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Despite the government’s defence, the model has continued to attract criticism over its implementation, particularly the means-testing process used to place students into five funding bands.
Stakeholders have also raised concerns over delayed disbursement of funds, appeals by students who believe they were wrongly categorised and increased dependence on student loans, which critics argue could place a heavier financial burden on graduates.
Melly emphasised that the proposed changes are intended to address existing concerns by introducing a simpler, fairer funding model that better supports students while eliminating the administrative bottlenecks that have plagued the current system.
By Frank Mugwe and Jonathan Mwinzi
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