A shortage of senior academic staff is putting pressure on postgraduate supervision and teaching in Kenyan universities, with public institutions recording rising student-to-staff ratios, a new report by the Commission for University Education (CUE) shows.
The 2025 data reviewed by CUE also points to an uneven spread of doctorate holders across academic fields, with business and arts-related courses having more PhD holders than science and technical disciplines.
The regulator found that only 631 professors, representing 3.84 per cent of academic staff, were teaching across 38 chartered public universities, 32 chartered private universities, three private universities with Letters of Interim Authority, eight public university constituent colleges and two private constituent colleges.
CUE Chief Executive Mike Kuria said the number of professors matters because of their role in supervising students pursuing doctoral degrees.
“There is no recommended number of professors in a university but ideally, anyone teaching in a university should have a PhD and everyone teaching in a university should aim to become a professor. When we don’t have many of them, it affects supervision of PhDs,” CUE Chief Executive Mike Kuria told the Saturday Nation.
“Our recommendation is that to teach at a particular level, you should have a higher rank. To supervise a PhD, you should be a professor.”
Of the 16,341 academic staff recorded in the report, 8,372, or 63.52 per cent, hold PhDs. Another 7,180 have master’s degrees, while others hold bachelor’s degrees, with 758 having postgraduate diplomas.
Public chartered universities employ 10,380 academic staff, accounting for 63.52 per cent of the total. Private chartered universities have 5,310 staff, or 32.49 per cent. Public constituent colleges account for 1.17 per cent, private constituent colleges 0.35 per cent and institutions with Letters of Interim Authority 2.47 per cent.
CUE said about three-quarters of doctorate holders are in public chartered universities, raising questions about the distribution of research capacity and postgraduate training across the university sector.
The gender gap among senior academics also remains wide. Only 122 of the 631 professors are women, although this is an increase from 93 in 2024. At associate professor level, there are 290 women compared with 803 men.
The report further warns that public universities and constituent colleges are struggling to keep academic staffing in line with student numbers, while private institutions have generally maintained ratios within recommended ranges.
“The implications for academic quality and institutional health are immediate. In categories where ratios have surged - most notably in public constituent colleges - academic capacity is failing to keep pace with enrolment,” the report says.
“This translates into oversized lecture cohorts, unsustainable marking and supervision loads and diminished faculty availability for student mentoring. Such high ratios constrain the time available for faculty research and professional development, potentially undermining longterm institutional competitiveness.”
CUE also recorded 3,017 cases of student indiscipline in 2025, with examination cheating accounting for 2,803, or 92.9 per cent.
Other cases included 154 involving gross misconduct and other violations, 40 related to theft, robbery, fraud and forgery, 12 involving drug and substance abuse, six cases of gender-based violence and two breaches of hall and election rules.
“Examination malpractice is the defining discipline challenge in Kenya’s universities. Common violations include cheating using unauthorised written materials, possession of electronic devices during examinations, impersonation and sitting examinations for units in which the student is not duly registered,” the report adds.
“It underscores the urgency of investing in examination integrity infrastructure.”
CUE wants universities to introduce stronger examination controls, including randomised seating, checks for electronic devices and electronic signal-suppression measures where legally permitted.
“CUE should incorporate examination integrity protocols into its institutional framework,” it reads.
The regulator also wants universities to settle disciplinary appeals within 90 days and ensure punishments match the offences and comply with the Universities Act.
“Every university should have a policy on how handle cases of cheating. The cases could be higher since those reported are the ones caught,” Prof Kuria said.
CUE had in 2014 introduced rules requiring university lecturers to hold PhDs, with an October 2019 deadline for compliance. The Universities Academic Staff Union challenged the rules in court, leading to their nullification in December 2019.