The University of Nairobi (UoN) is Kenya’s oldest and largest public university. Its roots go back to the Royal Technical College of 1956, and it became Kenya’s first national university in 1970. In the 2023 academic year it had 49,047 students, 35,897 of them undergraduates. This guide covers its history, campuses, faculties, rankings, admission, government and self-sponsored fees, accommodation, notable alumni and contacts.
History and founding
Plans for higher education in Kenya began in 1947, when the colonial government proposed a technical and commercial institute in Nairobi. A Royal Charter was issued to the Royal Technical College, Nairobi in September 1951, and its foundation stone was laid in April 1952. In April 1954 the Gandhi Memorial Academy, planned by the Asian community as a college for arts, science and commerce, was merged into the Royal Technical College, which admitted its first students in April 1956.
On 25 June 1961 the college became the second university college in East Africa, as the Royal College Nairobi, preparing students for University of London degrees. It was renamed University College, Nairobi on 20 May 1964 as a constituent college of the University of East Africa. When that federal university was dissolved on 1 July 1970, an Act of Parliament created the University of Nairobi as Kenya’s first national university, with 2,768 students.
The university was restructured in 1983 into six colleges headed by principals, and restructured again in 2021 into faculties headed by deans. In 2001 it opened the first Confucius Institute in Africa, in partnership with Tianjin Normal University. Today it operates under the Universities Act 2012 and its charter.
Campuses and location
The main campus is in Nairobi’s central business district along University Way, close to Uhuru Highway. The university also has campuses at Chiromo (sciences), Kenyatta National Hospital (health sciences), Parklands (law), Upper Kabete (agriculture and veterinary medicine), Kikuyu (education) and Lower Kabete (business). Extra-mural centres in county headquarters run evening and weekend classes, so working students can study near home.
Rankings and reputation
UoN is regularly placed at the top of Kenyan university rankings. Webometrics has ranked it 7th in Africa, and Times Higher Education placed it in the 1201–1500 band worldwide in its 2023 rankings. Its medicine, law, engineering, architecture and economics programmes are among the most competitive in the country, and many cut-off points for its degrees are among the highest on the KUCCPS portal.
Faculties and popular courses
Since the 2021 restructuring, teaching is run by faculties covering arts and social sciences, business and management science, education, engineering, law, science and technology, agriculture, veterinary medicine, built environment and design, and health sciences (medicine, dental surgery, nursing, pharmacy and public health).
The most sought-after degrees include the Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBChB), Bachelor of Laws, Bachelor of Pharmacy, the engineering degrees (civil, mechanical, electrical, geospatial), Bachelor of Architecture, BSc Computer Science, Bachelor of Commerce, BSc Actuarial Science and Bachelor of Economics.
Admission requirements
Government-sponsored students are placed by the Kenya Universities and Colleges Central Placement Service (KUCCPS) on the basis of KCSE results, cluster points and their choices. The general minimum for a degree is a KCSE mean grade of C+ (plus), with subject requirements for each programme; competitive courses such as medicine and law need much higher cluster points than the minimum.
Self-sponsored applicants (previously called Module II) apply directly to UoN for the same programmes and must meet the same minimum entry requirements. UoN also admits diploma holders and graduates for some programmes.
Fees
UoN publishes annual self-sponsored fees in its Schedule II for bachelor’s programmes. Selected annual fees:
| Programme | Annual fee, self-sponsored (KSh) |
|---|---|
| Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery (MBChB) | 600,000 |
| Bachelor of Pharmacy | 450,000 |
| BSc Human Anatomy | 450,000 |
| BSc Civil Engineering (and other engineering) | 396,000 |
| Bachelor of Construction Management | 360,000 |
| BSc Computer Science | 360,000 |
| BA Design / Interior Design | 240,000 |
| Bachelor of Commerce | 216,000 |
| BSc Finance and Accounting | 216,000 |
| BA Anthropology / Gender and Development | 180,000 |
| Bachelor of Arts | 144,000 |
Self-sponsored fees go to the UoN Module II collection account (ABSA 2032771362). New students quote the reference on their offer letter and continuing students their registration number, and fees are due before the semester starts.
Government-sponsored students placed by KUCCPS have their programme cost shared between a government scholarship, a HELB loan and the household, depending on their needs band. See government-sponsored vs self-sponsored fees.
KUCCPS cut-off points at UoN
UoN lists 59 degree programmes on the KUCCPS portal. These are the cut-off points for the 2025, 2024 and 2023 placements, from the most competitive. The highest 2025 cut-off was 46.069 for Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery. For every university, see KUCCPS cut-off points 2025.
| Programme | Code | 2025 cut-off | 2024 cut-off | 2023 cut-off |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery | 1263131 | 46.069 | 44.926 | 45.584 |
| Bachelor of Dental Surgery | 1263128 | 45.652 | 44.577 | 44.750 |
| Bachelor of Pharmacy | 1263129 | 45.234 | 43.457 | 44.452 |
| Bachelor of Science (Computer Science) | 1263115 | 44.970 | 44.401 | 44.825 |
| Bachelor of Science (Civil Engineering) | 1263116 | 44.267 | 43.121 | 43.463 |
| Bachelor of Science (Nursing) | 1263132 | 44.188 | 41.935 | 43.676 |
| Bachelor of Science (Electrical and Electronic Engineering) | 1263117 | 43.681 | 42.208 | 43.003 |
| Bachelor of Architectural Studies/bachelor of Architecture | 1263102 | 42.737 | 42.524 | 42.990 |
| Bachelor of Science (Mechanical Engineering) | 1263118 | 42.546 | 41.798 | 41.835 |
| Bachelor of Laws (Llb) | 1263134 | 41.706 | 40.402 | 42.014 |
| Bachelor of Science (Medical Laboratory Science & Technology) | 1263194 | 41.322 | 38.753 | 41.309 |
| Bachelor of Science Data Science | 1263409 | 40.009 | 35.848 | |
| Bachelor of Science (Actuarial Science) | 1263107 | 39.272 | 37.039 | 39.531 |
| Bachelor of Quantity Surveying | 1263103 | 38.756 | 35.904 | 40.232 |
| Bachelor of Veterinary Medicine | 1263130 | 38.689 | 37.826 | 37.747 |
| Bachelor of Science (Geospatial Engineering) | 1263119 | 38.228 | 36.025 | 35.105 |
| Bachelor of Education (Science) | 1263137 | 36.091 | 35.542 | 36.127 |
| Bachelor of Commerce (B.com) | 1263133 | 34.559 | 33.703 | 34.426 |
| Bachelor of Economics and Statistics | 1263199 | 34.502 | 30.303 | 34.507 |
| Bachelor of Construction Management | 1263176 | 34.323 | 34.163 | 30.243 |
| Bachelor of Arts in International Studies | 1263296 | 32.456 | 33.020 | 32.167 |
| Bachelor of Science (Statistics) | 1263163 | 32.020 | 28.424 | 35.192 |
| Bachelor of Arts Interior Design | 1263317 | 31.938 | 32.597 | 34.667 |
| Bachelor of Science (Mathematics) | 1263109 | 31.532 | 29.054 | 32.945 |
| Bachelor of Journalism and Mass Communication | 1263181 | 31.261 | 31.685 | 29.254 |
| Bachelor of Science (Agricultural Education and Extension) | 1263417 | 31.131 | 31.596 | 26.761 |
| Bachelor of Education (Arts) | 1263135 | 30.975 | 32.823 | 32.421 |
| Bachelor of Science (Food Nutrition and Dietetics) | 1263190 | 30.960 | 31.912 | 31.104 |
| Bachelor of Political Science and Public Administration | 1263550 | 30.936 | 30.429 | |
| Bachelor of Economics | 1263146 | 30.585 | 27.034 | 26.096 |
| Bachelor of Science (Food Science and Technology) | 1263124 | 30.380 | 29.591 | 23.850 |
| Bachelor of Science (Biochemistry) | 1263112 | 29.693 | 29.936 | 32.695 |
| Bachelor of Real Estate | 1263300 | 27.168 | 21.077 | 33.529 |
| Bachelor of Science (Environmental Conservation and Natural Resources Management) | 1263186 | 26.791 | 15.092 | 15.864 |
| Bachelor of Project Planning and Management | 1263327 | 26.752 | 30.644 | |
| Bachelor of Science (Biosystems Engineering) | 1263121 | 26.495 | 28.245 | 28.557 |
| Bachelor of Science (Agribusiness Management) | 1263187 | 25.991 | 20.266 | 15.864 |
| Bachelor of Information Science | 1263B69 | 25.129 | 19.799 | 21.375 |
| Bachelor of Science (Industrial Chemistry) | 1263108 | 25.030 | 26.864 | 27.458 |
| Bachelor of Education (ICT) | 1263440 | 24.731 | ||
| Bachelor of Science (Microbiology and Biotechnology) | 1263278 | 24.080 | 22.646 | 25.645 |
| Bachelor of Science (Microprocessor Technology and Instrumentation) | 1263126 | 23.979 | 15.299 | 15.683 |
| Bachelor of Science (Biology) | 1263111 | 23.311 | 14.796 | 24.957 |
| Bachelor of Science (B.sc) | 1263120 | 23.152 | 14.796 | 15.683 |
| Bachelor of Arts | 1263101 | 23.057 | 23.031 | 23.248 |
| Bachelor of Science (Analytical Chemistry) | 1263114 | 22.542 | 24.726 | 27.085 |
| Bachelor of Education (Early Childhood Education) | 1263180 | 21.889 | 23.552 | |
| Bachelor of Arts (Design) | 1263105 | 21.568 | 18.126 | 26.093 |
| Bachelor of Education (Physical Education and Sports) | 1263316 | 20.967 | 20.477 | 21.858 |
| Bachelor of Arts (Planning) | 1263165 | 20.715 | 18.126 | 18.392 |
| Bachelor of Arts (Anthropology) | 1263106 | 20.473 | 22.449 | |
| Bachelor of Arts (Gender and Development Studies) | 1263302 | 20.473 | 22.449 | |
| Bachelor of Science (Meteorology) | 1263110 | 15.794 | 15.683 | |
| Bachelor of Science (Geology) | 1263113 | 15.794 | 15.683 | |
| Bachelor of Science (Astronomy and Astrophysics) | 1263127 | 15.794 | 15.683 | |
| Bachelor of Science (Agriculture) | 1263122 | 15.092 | 15.864 | |
| Bachelor of Science (Wildlife Management and Conservation) | 1263143 | 15.092 | 15.864 | |
| Bachelor of Science in Dryland Sustainability Science with Technology | 1263402 | 15.092 | ||
| Bachelor of Science (Chemistry) | 1263513 | 14.796 | 21.213 |
How fees compare with other universities
Self-sponsored fees for a Bachelor of Commerce or similar business degree at universities we cover:
| University | Business degree fee (KSh) | Billing period |
|---|---|---|
| University of Nairobi | 216,000 | Per year |
| Kenyatta University | 183,600 | Year 1 |
| JKUAT | 168,967 | Per year |
| USIU-Africa (BSc Finance/Accounting) | 147,750 | Per semester |
| Strathmore (most degrees) | 230,000–270,000 | Per semester |
Public universities bill per year, while Strathmore and USIU-Africa bill per semester, so multiply private-university figures by the number of semesters in your year when comparing.
Accommodation
UoN runs halls of residence for students, including the main campus halls near the city centre, the Kenyatta National Hospital halls and halls at Kikuyu and Kabete. Hostel places are limited and first-years are usually prioritised. Many students rent privately in areas such as Ngara, Parklands, Kileleshwa and Kilimani; compare prices and security before paying a deposit.
Notable alumni
UoN graduates include President William Ruto, Chief Justice Martha Koome and former Chief Justice Willy Mutunga, Nobel Peace Prize laureate Wangari Maathai, Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi, law professor P. L. O. Lumumba, senior counsel James Orengo, human rights activist Maina Kiai, Kirinyaga governor Anne Waiguru and former Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i. Former Ugandan Prime Minister Apolo Nsibambi also studied at Nairobi.
Contacts
University of Nairobi, University Way, Nairobi. Website: uonbi.ac.ke. Use the official website for admission notices, and pay fees only into the accounts printed on your offer letter or the official fee schedule.
Related
University and TVET fees hub · KUCCPS cut-off points · School fees hub
Frequently asked questions
How much is MBChB at the University of Nairobi?
KSh 600,000 a year for self-sponsored students, according to UoN’s Schedule II.
How much is BCom at UoN?
KSh 216,000 a year for self-sponsored students.
How much is computer science at UoN?
KSh 360,000 a year for self-sponsored students.
When was the University of Nairobi founded?
Its predecessor, the Royal Technical College, admitted students in 1956, and it became the University of Nairobi in 1970.
How many students does UoN have?
49,047 in the 2023 academic year, of whom 35,897 were undergraduates.
Where do I pay UoN self-sponsored fees?
Into the UoN Module II collection account at ABSA (2032771362), quoting your offer-letter reference or registration number.
What is the KUCCPS cut-off for UoN?
It depends on the programme; in 2025 it ranged up to 46.069 for Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery. The table above lists every programme.
Sources: Wikipedia, University of Nairobi, KUCCPS. Last updated October 2026.
