One of the advantages with public universities is that students who qualify to go to these institutions get to pay a subsidized fee since the government pays for them some amount. With this in mind, it is obvious that high school candidates who aspire to join institutions of higher learning would definitely prefer public universities. This brings a lot of competition among those who intend to join public universities.
Joining a public university does not come easy, there is a criterion that needs to be followed and has to be fair to everyone. We therefore find that public universities only take the students who perform the best in the country, where they select them in a chronological manner from the highest. The rest who may also have done well are locked out due to the fact that university capacity cannot accommodate all. These brings in a lot of competition as many strive to get themselves a place in the regular program offered in public universities as most students cannot afford to pay fees for private universities. Competition also comes because public universities are less, with only 7 available, you find that there is a challenge where not everyone can fit in them. With private universities, it is very expensive and therefore the first qualification is the money factor, followed by the grade you got in your KCSE. This makes it possible for the students who can afford to pay to learn in private universities.

A critical look at both the private and public universities reveals a great difference between the two in terms of the assets of the universities. It is evident that the public universities are more established than their counterparts the private universities. This can be attributed to the fact that public universities are funded by the government. There is especially a difference when you compare the facilities and faculties that the universities have. You find that public universities are more equipped than the private universities. We therefore find that public universities are more upgraded in many more sectors compared to private universities.
Another major difference is the fact that public universities are bigger in size and faculty numbers based on the direct impact from the financing of the universities. While private universities may start with just a few faculties before they grow, public universities offer almost all common bachelor degrees .The other differentiating factor between private and public universities is where public universities really have many students administered. This affects the student’s learning environment as students are taught in halls unlike most private universities where they use classrooms which are better learning environment.

Most of the students in private universities choose which private institution they want, but it is always their sponsors who have the last word as they have to decide how the fees will be paid. Therefore it is the sponsors who determine which private universities the students attend. An interview with Dorcas , an Undergraduate student at Daystar University confirmed the same facts discussed, where it was her father’s first choice. “The reason why I chose public universities was because it was my dad’s first choice, so I just had to come here”, says Dorcas. This shows that sponsors really play a big role in deciding where their students go for their graduate or diploma certificate.

Others prefer private universities because of the services they have which are of better quality compared to public universities. One of the reasons attributing to this has to do with the total number of students in the two kinds of universities. It is also one key attribute that popped up in the two interviews conducted. The students interviewed brought up the aspect of population in both kind of universities where they said public universities are densely populated as compared to public universities. “Public universities are very populated compared to private universities which are sparsely populated and I think public universities lecturers really do not have a one on one focus with the students like the private ones which lectures have time with the students”. This was said by student in a public university who acknowledged this fact. This factor may make some students and sponsors choose private universities in spite of even doing well in their ‘O’ levels.
There is also one discouraging factor about public universities where students wait for more than a year before getting admitted to public universities. The reason behind this is when the current education system was initiated, one academic year was lost, causing the wait. We therefore find that most public university students stay for more than a year before getting admitted and this makes some students and sponsors prefer private universities.
One outstanding thing that can never miss while discussing about public universities is strikes. It is very funny because if it is not the students striking, it is their lectures striking. Under many occasions we have had temporary closure of the public universities due to strikes which leads to high loses and wasted time that results from the temporary closure. This also delays and extends the time one is supposed to graduate thus leading to frustrations.