Is Higher Education Still Worth the Cost?

By Brandy Lesline

My cousin graduated from a Nairobi university three years ago with a bachelor's degree in commerce. She is still paying off her Higher Education Loans Board debt while working in a position that, frankly, does not require a degree. I watched my parents scrape together fees for my own university education, and I remember the weight of that sacrifice.

 Today, sitting here in Kenya's current economic landscape, I'm forced to ask the question everyone's thinking but few dare voice aloud: Is a university degree still worth what we're paying for it?The answer, I'm afraid, is no longer a straightforward yes.

Let us start with the numbers. A four-year degree at a public Kenyan university can cost anywhere from 300,000 to 800,000 shillings, depending on the program. Add accommodation, food, and transport, and you are easily looking at over a million shillings ,an astronomical sum for the average Kenyan family. Many students rely on HELB loans, which means they enter the job market already burdened with debt. Private university fees? 

Those can reach several million shillings. For families earning modest incomes, this represents a bet-your-future gamble.

The problem is not the cost alone. It is that the payoff has become increasingly uncertain. Kenya's job market is oversaturated with graduates. Walk into any corporate office and you will find degree holders working as customer service representatives or junior clerks. Unemployment among young people with university degrees remains stubbornly high, hovering around 16 percent according to recent data. 

The degree, once a golden ticket, now feels more like a basic entry requirement that still does not guarantee entry.

There is also the skills mismatch. Universities teach theory while employers demand practical experience. A graduate fresh from campus often lacks the specific technical or digital skills that would make them immediately valuable. 

Yet these skills are increasingly available through shorter, cheaper alternatives ,coding bootcamps, digital marketing certifications, vocational training programs ,that cost a fraction of university tuition and take months rather than years.

I've watched talented young Kenyans abandon the university path entirely. They are learning trades, pursuing apprenticeships, or teaching themselves programming online. Some are starting businesses while their degree-holding peers are still searching for jobs. The opportunity cost of university ,four years of lost income and experience is becoming harder to justify when alternative paths exist.

Yet I cannot dismiss university entirely. A degree still opens certain doors that vocational training cannot. Professional fields like medicine, law, and engineering require formal university credentials. For some career trajectories, particularly those requiring postgraduate studies, an undergraduate degree remains essential. Furthermore, university provides intangible benefits critical thinking skills, networking opportunities, exposure to diverse ideas that extend beyond job preparation.

The real issue is that we have created a false binary in Kenya. Either you pursue a traditional four-year degree or you are supposedly settling for less. We need to shift how we think about education entirely. Not every student should pursue university, and that should not be considered failure. Some will thrive in technical training. Others will excel as entrepreneurs. Still others genuinely need the academic pathway.

What troubles me is that economic pressure is making this choice for too many Kenyans. Families sacrifice tremendously, students accumulate debt, and universities remain largely unchanged ,still teaching curricula designed decades ago without adequately preparing students for today's economy. The system has not evolved to justify its cost.

My honest answer to whether higher education is worth it in Kenya today? It depends entirely on your goals, your financial situation, and your chosen field. For some, absolutely yes. For many others, the cost-benefit analysis no longer favors a traditional degree. We need to stop pretending it is universally the right choice and start having realistic conversations about education in Kenya conversations that acknowledge both its value and its limitations in our current economic reality.