By Roy Hezron
Medical, Science and Technology courses are major winners in the recently amended funding formula by the University Fund Board.
The STEM courses are among the government’s top priority in the Vision 2030 agenda, which among other measures seeks to make the country an industrialized nation.
Among the proposed amendments to the funding formula is the Differentiated Unit Cost (DUC), which is the amount of money required by an institution to teach one academic program per year per student.
The funding will further extend to those students who will be undertaking post-graduate courses in the government priority courses.
Most universities will be affected because the government will shift attention to funding only priority courses and which are also in line with attaining the government’s Big Four agenda.
Universities and institutions with students studying medicine courses under Pre-Clinical at Diploma level will get Sh216,000 per year while those enrolled for Bachelor degrees will get Sh360,000 per year per student .
Post-graduate students studying medical courses at Master’s and Doctorate levels will be funded with Sh432,000 and Sh480,000 respectively.
Universities with students studying Clinical Medicine at Diploma level will get a total of Ksh.432, 000 per year per student at Diploma level, Ksh.720,000 per year per student at Bachelor’s Degree level.
Students undertaking similar courses in post-graduate programs at those universities will be funded a total of Sh864,000 and Ksh.972,000 for Master’s and Doctorate levels respectively.
At Pre-Clinical Dentistry, at Diploma level the government will fund Sh216,000 per year per student while on the Clinical Dentistry at Diploma level the government will channel Sh432,000 per year per student.
Those universities with students both at Pre-clinical and Clinical academic programs at Bachelor’s degree will get a total of Sh360,000 and Ksh.720,000 respectively.
On the other hand, the post graduate students will enjoy Sh432, 000 facilitation at Master’s level under Pre-Clinical and Ksh.864,000 on clinical, while Doctorate students at Pre and Clinical programmes will get Sh480,000 and Sh972,000 respectively.
Universities with students in the Veterinary Medicine academic programme both at Pre and Clinical levels under Diploma level will enjoy a funding of Sh216, 000 and Sh372, 000 respectively, while at Bachelor’s degree both at Pre and Clinical level will be get Sh324,000 and Sh564,000 respectively.
Government will give students Sh384,000 and Sh672,000 at Master’s level both at Pre and Clinical, respectively, while students at Doctorate level in both Pre and Clinical funding will get Sh432,000 and Sh756,000 per year per student respectively.
In Pharmacy, both Pre and Clinical, at Diploma level, the funding will be Sh216,000 and Sh336,000 per year per student respectively while those pursuing a Bachelor’s degree will get Sh324,000 and Sh504,000 both Pre and Clinical respectively.
Those pursuing Master’s level at both Pre and Clinical respectively will get Sh384,000 and Sh600,000 respectively and Sh432,000 and Sh672,000 will be offered to Pre and Clinical levels learners who will be studying the same course at Doctorate level.
On the other hand, universities with Built Environment and Design, Construction, Real Estate, Urban and Regional Planning, Landscape Architecture, Design, and Computing academic programmes at diploma level will get a total of Sh216,000 per year per student.
Students who will be admitted into the programme for Bachelor’s degree will get Sh360,000 per year per student and Sh432,000 at Master’s level, while those at Doctorate level will receive Sh480,000 per year per student.
Academic Programmes of Agriculture, Health Science, Food Sciences, Natural Resources Management and the Natural Environment, Food Science and Technology, Medical Laboratory , Science and Technology, Animal Science will receive Sh216,000 at Diploma level, Sh324,00 at Bachelor’s Degree level, Sh384,000 at Master’s Degree level and Sh432,000 per year per student at Doctorate level.
The amounts will apply for Radiography, Nursing, Sports Science, Food and Nutrition, Medical Psychology, Public Health, Physical therapy, Environmental Health, Community Health and Development, Wildlife Service and Management, and Agribusiness Management prohrammes.
The Academic Programmes of Basic Humanities and Social Sciences, Economics, Geography (B.A), Basic Humanities and Social Sciences, History, Philosophy, Religion, Sociology, Literature, Political Science, and Linguistics are among Programmes with low funding.
Universities which will admit students into any of these Programmes at Diploma level will get Sh96,000 per student per year, Sh144,000 per student per year at Bachelor’s Degree level, Sh168,000 per student per year at Master’s Degree level, and Sh192,000 per student per year at Doctorate level.
The University Fund, a government agency established under the Universities Act and which is mandated to fund universities developed 14 different clusters of different Subject Areas (Academic Programmes) which guide in funding the students in Universities.
