How Njia works, and answers to 51 questions
51 plain answers, written for school leavers and the people advising them. Nothing here needs an account and nothing you read is tracked. If your question is about a specific course or county, browse by county or start from your KCSE grade.
- How Njia works
- The system you are in
- Getting started
- Your data and privacy
- The method and the science
- Courses, institutions and data quality
- Grades, money and eligibility
- Glossary
How Njia works
Five steps, in the order most people take them. Every one is free, works on any phone browser, and needs no account.
Run the Discovery diagnostic
- Open Discover and tap “Begin Discovery”. Answer honestly rather than aspirationally — the matcher is only as realistic as what you tell it.
- Some questions ask about constraints (grade band, budget, obligations, how soon you need income). These are not judgements; they are what makes the course list affordable and reachable rather than a wish list.
- For written questions you can tap the microphone and speak instead. Your speech is turned into text on the device; no audio is stored or sent.
- You can close the app mid-way. Your answers and your position are saved, so reopening puts you back where you stopped.
- At the end you get a primary and secondary cluster, a signal-strength reading, the full six-cluster spread, and your constraints — all of which flow straight into Decide.
Sketch three futures in the Odyssey Plan
- Open Design. You get three lives side by side: the path you are already on, what you would do if that disappeared, and what you would do if money and other people’s opinions were no object.
- Anchor each life to a cluster and, if you like, a specific course from the catalogue — that keeps the exercise concrete instead of daydreaming.
- Fill in years one to five for each. Short phrases are fine. The point is to see three plausible lives next to each other, not to write an essay.
- Rate your confidence in each life. A low-confidence favourite is useful information, not a failure.
- Use the Gravity tab to name constraints you cannot solve directly (“I cannot afford a four-year degree right now”), then reframe your energy toward what you can design around.
- Everything saves as you type.
Match courses, fees and funding to your reality
- Open Decide. Set your grade and your maximum budget in the filter rail first — every score below re-computes against them.
- Read the match percentage together with the “Why N% match?” expander. The score explains itself factor by factor; a number you cannot interrogate is not evidence.
- Watch the budget chip: within budget, stretch (up to 25% over, often closable with funding) or over budget. Stretch options are shown deliberately rather than hidden.
- Look for the ✓ Verified badge. It means that record’s fee has been cross-checked against a public source, with the source named. Everything else is illustrative and must be confirmed with the institution.
- Save the courses you are serious about, then use Compare Saved — the best value in each measurable row is shaded so you are not squinting at digits.
- Switch to the Funding tab and work the deadlines. HEF/HELB applies to public universities and TVETs; bursaries and scholarships stack on top.
Talk to someone already doing the work
- Open Connect. It suggests the kinds of people worth talking to for your cluster — not names, because inventing mentor profiles would be dishonest.
- Find those people among family friends, congregation members, alumni of your school, or county youth groups.
- Generate an outreach message, edit it so it sounds like you, and send it by WhatsApp, SMS or email.
- Read the Cold Outreach Safety Checklist before meeting anyone. No legitimate professional charges you a “registration fee” for career advice.
- One honest conversation with someone two years ahead of you routinely beats a week of reading — including reading this app.
Turn the plan into applications that actually get sent
- Open Track and create an OKR: one objective for the quarter with two or three measurable key results.
- Good key results are countable — “submit three applications”, “speak to two nurses”, “save Ksh 15,000 toward fees”.
- Add each application you send and move it through its stages so nothing is lost between intakes.
- Check in weekly. The plan only works if it survives contact with the term calendar.
The system you are in
I am in Grade 10 under CBC. What does the pathway choice mean for me?
Kenya's first competency-based cohort entered senior school in January 2026. You choose one of three pathways at Grade 10 — STEM (science, technology, engineering, maths), Social Sciences (humanities, business, languages) or Arts and Sports Science — on your KJSEA results. Everyone still takes English, Kiswahili or KSL, community service learning and physical education, plus three pathway subjects. The choice shapes which courses are open to you at Grade 12, so it is worth treating as a career decision and not just a subject preference. Njia's clusters map onto it: STEM leads toward the tech and numbers clusters, Social Sciences toward people, business and care, Arts and Sports toward the creator cluster.
The part that is easy to miss: your three pathway subjects become the subjects a degree later requires of you. That makes this a harder gate than any grade. Elsewhere on this page you will read that a mean grade only decides whether you may apply and cluster points decide placement — under CBE there is a third gate sitting ahead of both, and it closes when you are fourteen. An A in Social Sciences subjects does not open engineering, because the engineering cluster asks for subjects that pathway does not teach. Grades can be improved. A subject you never sat cannot be.
The part that is easy to miss: your three pathway subjects become the subjects a degree later requires of you. That makes this a harder gate than any grade. Elsewhere on this page you will read that a mean grade only decides whether you may apply and cluster points decide placement — under CBE there is a third gate sitting ahead of both, and it closes when you are fourteen. An A in Social Sciences subjects does not open engineering, because the engineering cluster asks for subjects that pathway does not teach. Grades can be improved. A subject you never sat cannot be.
I think I chose the wrong pathway. Can I change it?
There is a window, and it closes. A parent makes a formal request through the Head of Junior School, and the guidance published for the first cohort required this at least two weeks before the January reporting date. Choices themselves are made through the Ministry of Education portal at selection.education.go.ke, and the school is meant to give career guidance before anything is finalised — ask for it, and ask early.
Where we will not guess: what is much less clearly published is whether, and how, you can switch pathway once senior school has actually started. Njia has not found an authoritative public answer to that, so it is not going to invent one. Ask the school and the portal directly rather than assume it is either impossible or easy. If you are still before the deadline, that is the cheapest moment to act by a wide margin.
Where we will not guess: what is much less clearly published is whether, and how, you can switch pathway once senior school has actually started. Njia has not found an authoritative public answer to that, so it is not going to invent one. Ask the school and the portal directly rather than assume it is either impossible or easy. If you are still before the deadline, that is the cheapest moment to act by a wide margin.
What exactly am I choosing — a pathway, or something narrower?
Something narrower, and this trips people up. A pathway is the top level; inside it sits a track, and inside that a coded three-subject combination. STEM runs Pure Sciences (Physics, Chemistry, Biology, General Science), Applied Sciences (Computer Science, Home Science, Agriculture) and Technical Studies (Aviation, Building Construction, Electricity, Metal Work, Power Mechanics, Woodwork, Media Technology, Marine and Fisheries Technology). Social Sciences runs Humanities and Business Studies (Religious Education, Business Studies, History and Citizenship, Geography) and Languages and Literature (Literature in English, indigenous languages, KSL, Fasihi ya Kiswahili, Arabic, French, German, Mandarin). Arts and Sports Science runs Arts (Music and Dance, Theatre and Film, Fine Art) and Sports Science (Physical Education, Sports and Recreation). In Pure Sciences you take at least two subjects from that list plus one more from anywhere in STEM; Applied Sciences works the same way. The Ministry publishes the whole combination table with codes at selection.education.go.ke — but your school only offers some of them, so the school you are placed in narrows your combination just as much as the pathway does. Check which combinations a school actually offers before you rank it.
How much choice is really out there: STEM alone carries 161 subject combinations across its three tracks. No school offers anywhere close to that — which is exactly why the twelve schools you rank decide your real options as much as the pathway does. (Njia has not sourced combination counts for Social Sciences or Arts and Sports Science, so it does not quote a total for the whole system.)
How much choice is really out there: STEM alone carries 161 subject combinations across its three tracks. No school offers anywhere close to that — which is exactly why the twelve schools you rank decide your real options as much as the pathway does. (Njia has not sourced combination counts for Social Sciences or Arts and Sports Science, so it does not quote a total for the whole system.)
Core Maths or Essential Maths — does it matter which one I sit?
It matters more than almost anything else on this page, and it is the choice least likely to feel like one, because it arrives looking like a timetable rather than a decision.
The rule: senior school splits mathematics in two. STEM learners take Core Mathematics. Social Sciences and Arts and Sports Science learners take Essential Mathematics. If you are on the Pure Sciences track you must register Core Mathematics and are barred from Essential.
What each one is: Essential Mathematics covers functional algebra, financial mathematics — interest, taxation, budgeting — basic statistics, measurement and applied quantitative reasoning. It is genuinely useful mathematics. Core Mathematics goes further into advanced reasoning, algebra, statistics and problem-solving.
Why it matters: engineering, medicine, data science, actuarial science, architecture, economics and the physical sciences will almost certainly want Core Mathematics. Law, journalism, creative arts, social work, business management, entrepreneurship and the vocational trades sit comfortably with Essential.
The part to actually act on: a learner outside STEM may be permitted to take Core Mathematics anyway, provided their junior school assessment shows adequate preparation. Almost nobody is told this exists. If you are heading into Social Sciences or Arts and Sports but think you may ever want a numerate degree — accounting and actuarial science are the classic cases — ask about Core Mathematics before your combination is registered, and ask early enough that your junior school results can still be put forward.
A note on confidence: the rule and the exemption are consistently reported. The list of degrees needing Core Mathematics is informed guidance from education specialists rather than a published KUCCPS requirement — treat it as a strong steer, and confirm against the specific programme.
The rule: senior school splits mathematics in two. STEM learners take Core Mathematics. Social Sciences and Arts and Sports Science learners take Essential Mathematics. If you are on the Pure Sciences track you must register Core Mathematics and are barred from Essential.
What each one is: Essential Mathematics covers functional algebra, financial mathematics — interest, taxation, budgeting — basic statistics, measurement and applied quantitative reasoning. It is genuinely useful mathematics. Core Mathematics goes further into advanced reasoning, algebra, statistics and problem-solving.
Why it matters: engineering, medicine, data science, actuarial science, architecture, economics and the physical sciences will almost certainly want Core Mathematics. Law, journalism, creative arts, social work, business management, entrepreneurship and the vocational trades sit comfortably with Essential.
The part to actually act on: a learner outside STEM may be permitted to take Core Mathematics anyway, provided their junior school assessment shows adequate preparation. Almost nobody is told this exists. If you are heading into Social Sciences or Arts and Sports but think you may ever want a numerate degree — accounting and actuarial science are the classic cases — ask about Core Mathematics before your combination is registered, and ask early enough that your junior school results can still be put forward.
A note on confidence: the rule and the exemption are consistently reported. The list of degrees needing Core Mathematics is informed guidance from education specialists rather than a published KUCCPS requirement — treat it as a strong steer, and confirm against the specific programme.
Is one pathway meant to be bigger than the others?
Yes, by design, and it is worth knowing. The Basic Education Curriculum Framework expects roughly 60% of senior school learners in STEM, 25% in languages and social sciences, and 15% in sports science and the performing and visual arts. Treat that as a planning target rather than a measured result — it describes how the system was built, not where the first cohort actually landed. But it tells you something real: if you choose outside STEM you are in a minority the system planned for, not a mistake. And if you choose STEM, you are in the stream it intends to be the most crowded.
Does Njia filter courses by my CBE pathway?
No, deliberately — and the honest reason is narrower than "the data does not exist". Both halves of the mapping are published: the Ministry's subject-combination table, and the KUCCPS degree cluster document that lists every programme's four required cluster subjects. What is not published is the bridge between them — an authoritative account of how a CBE three-subject combination will satisfy cluster requirements that are still written in KCSE subjects, for the first cohort to reach placement around 2029. Njia will not invent that rule, because it is precisely the rule that would decide whether your options get hidden from you. A confident filter built on a guess would quietly remove courses you can actually do, which is a worse failure than asking you to check. So the catalogue stays open and the constraint is explained. Confirm subject requirements for any specific programme with the institution or KUCCPS. This changes the day the bridge is published.
Does meeting a course's minimum grade mean I will get in?
No, and this is the most common misunderstanding. For a degree, the mean grade (C+ and above) decides whether you may apply. Placement itself is decided on weighted cluster points — your performance in the four subjects that specific programme requires, ranked against every other applicant, to three decimal places. Certificates and diplomas are much closer to a straight grade requirement.
What is a cut-off point, really?
It is the cluster score of the last student placed in that programme last cycle — an outcome, not a bar set in advance. It moves every year with demand, institutional capacity and how the cohort performed. Use last year's cut-offs to judge how competitive a course is; never treat one as a score to aim at, because the number you are aiming at no longer exists. Meeting it does not guarantee placement either — capacity and competition still decide.
How do I find my own cluster points?
Do not try to calculate them by hand. The KUCCPS student portal computes them for you and shows them directly against each programme you are considering.
Why did Medicine and Engineering disappear from the portal?
Because they filled. In the 2026 cycle medicine, nursing, pharmacy, architecture and engineering were removed from the KUCCPS portal outright once their slots were exhausted in the first application window. Those courses attract the most applicants nationally and have the least government-funded capacity — and the cap is not arbitrary: professional regulators limit intake so that students-per-lecturer and students-per-laboratory ratios stay workable. The cap protects the quality of the qualification you would be getting. Meanwhile roughly 1.1 million vacancies remained open across national polytechnics and specialised training institutions.
I want to be a nurse. Which route should I take?
It depends which door is open. Degree nursing is among the most oversubscribed programmes in the country. The KMTC diploma route into the same profession runs at campuses in 45 of the 47 counties and is genuinely reachable — same field, completely different odds. A diploma also ladders: a KRCHN can upgrade later. This is not an argument for lowering your ambition; it is an argument for knowing which door is open before the window closes.
I already do this work but have no certificate. Is there a route for me?
Yes, and it is the most under-advertised thing in Kenyan education. Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) is a structured assessment that certifies skills you gained through work, informal training or life experience, and converts them toward a formal qualification — without going back to school for years you cannot afford. It exists precisely for the jua kali sector: mechanics, masons, tailors, welders, cooks who are already competent and simply have no paper. It is run by TVETA with the Kenya National Qualifications Authority and ILO support, pushed for by the Federation of Kenya Employers and the Kenya Jua Kali Association. Why it is worth the effort: a certified artisan commands Ksh 2,500–3,000 a day while uncertified work on the same job pays a fraction — the certificate is what earns the rate. Be realistic about the state of it: over 600 certificates have been awarded, which is real but early. Coverage across trades and counties is uneven and you will likely need to approach TVETA or an accredited assessment centre directly rather than find it advertised.
I want to start something of my own. Where does the money come from?
Start by discounting the one everybody names. The Hustler Fund is not business capital. The average loan is around Ksh 300, repayable in 14 days. At 8% a year it is the cheapest credit in the country and 5% of what you borrow is held as savings — both genuinely useful — but a fortnight loan of a few hundred shillings smooths a bad week; it does not buy stock, tools or a lease. Analysts read the average ticket size as a measure of how thin household margins are rather than as evidence of enterprise. (On the default rate: you will see it quoted anywhere from 15% to 64%. Both are real and measure different things — roughly 15–20% of the value lent is currently unpaid, while the large majority of people who have ever borrowed have fallen behind at some point. Neither number tells you whether it suits you; the 14-day tenure does.)
The instrument that actually finances a business is the Youth Enterprise Development Fund: Ksh 100,000 to start, and from Ksh 200,000 up to Ksh 1,000,000 to expand, for ages 18–34. It is interest-free, with a one-time 5% management fee deducted before disbursement. The important part is the gate: group loans need at least five members, 70% of them youth, youth leadership, an active bank account and a registration certificate from the Registrar of Societies or Social Services. That is a group and a certificate — not a credit score — and assembling both takes months, so begin while you are still studying rather than the week you need the money. Apply at your sub-county or constituency headquarters, any Huduma Centre, or through youthfund.go.ke. Expect change: government has announced a Biashara Fund merging the Youth, Uwezo and Women Enterprise funds; as of 2026 the individual funds still operate and the merger is unfinished, so confirm current terms at the constituency office before planning around a figure.
The instrument that actually finances a business is the Youth Enterprise Development Fund: Ksh 100,000 to start, and from Ksh 200,000 up to Ksh 1,000,000 to expand, for ages 18–34. It is interest-free, with a one-time 5% management fee deducted before disbursement. The important part is the gate: group loans need at least five members, 70% of them youth, youth leadership, an active bank account and a registration certificate from the Registrar of Societies or Social Services. That is a group and a certificate — not a credit score — and assembling both takes months, so begin while you are still studying rather than the week you need the money. Apply at your sub-county or constituency headquarters, any Huduma Centre, or through youthfund.go.ke. Expect change: government has announced a Biashara Fund merging the Youth, Uwezo and Women Enterprise funds; as of 2026 the individual funds still operate and the merger is unfinished, so confirm current terms at the constituency office before planning around a figure.
When do I sort out my industrial attachment?
Earlier than you think. Attachment is a mandatory component of most university and TVET programmes — not an optional extra — and it is competitive: thousands of students chase places in the same state corporations and large firms every intake, and your institution does not guarantee you one. NITA runs a national portal for it (ITAP), reached from nita.go.ke under Our Services → Industrial Attachment; you create an account, verify by email and apply there. Big employers like KRA and Kenya Power also run their own advertised cycles. The whole tip is this: register in your first year rather than the term it falls due. It costs nothing, and it turns a panic into a queue you are already standing in. Attachment is often the first real entry to the labour market, and some students are hired by the organisation that took them. Be realistic though — the supply of good places has not kept up with enrolment, so treat the search as real work.
Is it true Germany is taking 250,000 Kenyan workers?
No — and this is worth understanding properly, because almost everyone has seen that headline. Kenya and Germany did sign a Migration and Mobility Partnership in Berlin on 13 September 2024, and it is real. But the 250,000 figure is not in the agreement. Germany's Interior Ministry stated publicly that the deal specifies no quota at all; the number came from Kenya's presidency describing an ambition. Do not build a plan around it. What the agreement actually does: Germany waives its labour-market test for skilled workers from Kenya, grants a residence permit once you hold an approved job, and issues long-stay visas for study and vocational training (Ausbildung) with a route to work afterwards. Demand is in healthcare and nursing, engineering, IT, transport and hospitality. What actually decides whether you go: German language and formal recognition of your qualification — not the agreement. Regulated professions like nursing need German at B1–B2 depending on the federal state, plus recognition of your Kenyan qualification (Anerkennung), which takes up to four months once your documents are complete, usually alongside a concrete job offer. Since March 2024 a Recognition Partnership lets you enter and finish the recognition process in Germany instead of completing it first, and IT specialists can qualify on demonstrated skill without a formal qualification. Honest reading: a real route and a narrow one. It rewards people who start German early and keep their certificates and transcripts in order. It is not a plan for next year, and it is not a substitute for a plan in Kenya.
How should I order my choices on the form?
Apply early — the competitive programmes close in the first window, not at the published deadline. And put a reachable second and third choice on the form rather than three versions of the same long shot. Njia's Decide module shows what your grade actually opens across the whole catalogue, which is the fastest way to find a realistic second choice you would still be happy with.
I have been placed but we cannot raise the money. What are my options?
First, know that this is common and it is not a personal failure. Under the funding model your household is assigned a contribution by band, and students have been forced to defer specifically because that contribution could not be raised. The system produces this outcome; it is not evidence that you did something wrong.
Do these in order.
1. Appeal your band. It is set by an instrument reading your declared household circumstances, so it can be wrong, and the difference between the top and bottom band is roughly 40% of your fees. If circumstances were misread or have changed — a parent lost work, someone died, a sibling started school — appeal through the HEF portal inside the published window. This is the cheapest fix and the most overlooked.
2. Stack the other sources. HEF is not the only door. An NG-CDF bursary and a county bursary can be held alongside it, and most applications fail on missing documents rather than on merit — see the bursary question above for the full checklist.
3. Talk to the institution before the reporting date, not after. Deferment is arranged with the college or university itself, not with KUCCPS, and each institution has its own deferral form and rules. Registrars can also stage payments across a term. Going silent and simply not reporting is the worst version of this, because it forfeits a conversation you were entitled to have.
Where Njia will not guess: whether and for how long a deferred student keeps their KUCCPS placement is not published in any form we can point you to. Do not assume it is held, and do not assume it is lost — ask the institution directly and get the answer in writing before the deadline passes.
And weigh the alternative honestly. A TVET place you can actually pay for, that ladders into a diploma and then a degree, is a real route and a common one. It beats a university place you have to abandon in second year.
Do these in order.
1. Appeal your band. It is set by an instrument reading your declared household circumstances, so it can be wrong, and the difference between the top and bottom band is roughly 40% of your fees. If circumstances were misread or have changed — a parent lost work, someone died, a sibling started school — appeal through the HEF portal inside the published window. This is the cheapest fix and the most overlooked.
2. Stack the other sources. HEF is not the only door. An NG-CDF bursary and a county bursary can be held alongside it, and most applications fail on missing documents rather than on merit — see the bursary question above for the full checklist.
3. Talk to the institution before the reporting date, not after. Deferment is arranged with the college or university itself, not with KUCCPS, and each institution has its own deferral form and rules. Registrars can also stage payments across a term. Going silent and simply not reporting is the worst version of this, because it forfeits a conversation you were entitled to have.
Where Njia will not guess: whether and for how long a deferred student keeps their KUCCPS placement is not published in any form we can point you to. Do not assume it is held, and do not assume it is lost — ask the institution directly and get the answer in writing before the deadline passes.
And weigh the alternative honestly. A TVET place you can actually pay for, that ladders into a diploma and then a degree, is a real route and a common one. It beats a university place you have to abandon in second year.
I missed the main KUCCPS window. Is it over?
No. The main application window runs around April to May, but it is not the only door. Inter-institutional transfer, the KMTC September intake and Kenya Utalii have their own deadlines, and TVET placement is continuous rather than a single annual exercise — colleges report from May onward. The Application Clock on the home page shows which windows are open today and how many days are left.
Getting started
Is Njia really free?
Yes — completely free. No signup, no account, no ads, no paywall, no “premium” tier. Nothing is being upsold to you.
Do I need internet to use it?
Only for your first visit. After that Njia works fully offline, and you can install it to your home screen so it opens like an app. That is deliberate: bundles and reliable data are not a given.
Do I need a smartphone?
Any browser works, but Njia is built mobile-first for low-end Android devices, which is what most users actually have. It also works on a shared or borrowed phone — see the shared-device answer below.
How long does the whole thing take?
The Discovery diagnostic is about 20 minutes. Designing three futures takes another 30–45. Deciding on a shortlist takes about 15. You do not have to do it in one sitting; everything is saved as you go.
Can I retake the questionnaire?
Yes, any time, from the results screen. Your interests are still settling at this age — retaking it after a few months is sensible, not indecisive.
Can I use Njia if I'm not in Kenya?
You can, but the course, fee and funding data is Kenya-specific — it won't be useful for education decisions outside Kenya's system.
Your data and privacy
Does my data leave my phone?
No. Questionnaire answers, plans, saved courses and OKRs live in your browser’s local storage on your device. There is no account and no server profile. The single exception is the optional Feedback and Partner forms — what you type there is sent to us, and only if you press send.
Can you see my results?
No. There is nowhere for them to go. This is an architectural fact, not a policy promise we are asking you to trust.
Can I use this on a shared or borrowed phone?
Yes — use “Clear My Data” (the lock icon in the header) before you hand the phone back. It wipes everything Njia has stored on that device.
What happens if I uninstall Njia or clear my browser data?
It is gone for good, because everything lives in that browser’s storage. Export a backup first if you want to keep it — see Privacy & your data.
Is there any tracking or analytics?
No cookies for tracking, no analytics scripts and no third-party pixels — nothing from outside Njia is loaded or told anything about you. One thing is counted: when you reach a milestone — finishing the questionnaire, saving a course, starting an application, downloading your report — Njia asks the server for a plain marker file, and the server counts how many times each was asked for. No identifier travels with it, nothing links two requests together, and it is switched off entirely if your browser sends Do Not Track or Global Privacy Control. It counts steps, not people.
The method and the science
How is this different from a personality quiz?
Two ways. First, it is built on career-psychology and life-design research rather than a personality label. Second, every recommendation is checked against real Kenyan grade requirements, fees and funding — a quiz tells you who you are, Njia tells you what you can actually apply to.
How much should I trust my cluster result?
It is a strong starting point, not a verdict — and the results screen says so with the evidence. Interest profiles predict what people choose and stay with far better than how satisfied they end up; the correlation with job satisfaction is around r = .17. Treat it as a shortlist generator.
Two of my clusters are almost tied. Which one is right?
Possibly both, and that is genuinely useful information. The results screen shows the full six-cluster spread and flags a close call. When clusters are close, prototype both in the Design module rather than forcing a pick.
Why does it ask me to design three futures instead of just telling me one answer?
Because at 17–20 your interests are still crystallising — they only reach adult stability around 25–30. Committing hard to a single path at this age is betting on a profile that is still forming. Three designed futures is the evidence-based response.
What are the Four Elements?
Identity (what you are drawn to), Community (who you want to be around), Necessity (your real constraints — grades, money, obligations, timeline) and Horizon (where you want to end up). Necessity is why the recommendations are affordable rather than aspirational.
Courses, institutions and data quality
Is the course and fee data accurate?
Partly, and the app is explicit about which parts. Institution names are real. Records carrying the ✓ Verified badge have had their fee cross-checked against a named public source. Everything else is illustrative and must be confirmed with the institution before you make a financial decision. The Decide banner shows the live verified count.
Are private universities and colleges included?
Yes. The directory covers public and private universities, national polytechnics, technical training institutes and private colleges, and every institution is labelled public or private — the single biggest driver of what you will pay.
Can I study online?
Yes, and it may be the best option if you cannot relocate or you are already working. The Open University of Kenya — the country’s first fully virtual public university — is in the catalogue with its published fees, alongside other institutions offering online and evening modes. Filter by Online in Decide.
Employment rates and salaries — where are those from?
They are illustrative at present. No Kenyan institution in this catalogue publishes a graduate tracer study we could verify against, so those figures carry no verified badge and should be read as rough context only, never as a promise.
I found a data error — how do I report it?
Use “Give Feedback” in the footer and describe what looks wrong. Reports directly shape what gets verified next.
Is Njia affiliated with KUCCPS, HELB, or any institution?
No. Njia is independent and unaffiliated. Institution and funder names appear because they are real, publicly known Kenyan bodies — not because of any partnership, sponsorship or endorsement.
Grades, money and eligibility
A public university shows no fee. So what will I actually pay?
A per-programme price for a public university no longer exists, which is why Njia shows none rather than a guess. Kenya retired the Differentiated Unit Cost in May 2023 and replaced it with the Student-Centred Funding Model: what you pay is set by your household, not by your course.
A Means Testing Instrument run by HELB places you in one of five bands, weighing family income, family size, the type of school you attended, marginalisation and disability. Each band fixes how the cost is split between a government scholarship, a HELB loan and your family:
Band 1 (previously “vulnerable”) — 70% scholarship + 25% loan, household pays 5%.
Band 2 (extremely needy) — 70% scholarship + 30% loan, household pays nothing.
Band 3 (needy, reported around household income up to Ksh 70,000 a month) — 50% scholarship + 30% loan, household pays 20%; upkeep loan Ksh 50,000.
Band 4 (less needy, reported up to Ksh 120,000 a month) — 40% scholarship + 30% loan, household pays 30%; upkeep loan Ksh 45,000.
Band 5 — 30% scholarship + 30% loan, household pays 40%.
How to use this. The percentages are of the course cost, so a cheaper programme lowers your share in shillings even when your band does not move. Two people on the same course in the same lecture hall can owe very different amounts, and that is the model working as designed rather than an error. Apply through the HEF portal at hef.co.ke and HELB, and do it in the application window — a band is assigned from what you submit.
And the scholarship half does not reach a private university. Under this model a student placed at a private university can apply for the HELB loan only — 31 of Kenya’s 32 chartered private universities are HELB-eligible for the 2026 cycle — but the government scholarship is reserved for public universities and the Open University of Kenya. That is the largest share of the split: the scholarship is 30% to 70% of the course cost depending on your band, so a Band 2 student who would pay nothing from the household at a public university is, at a private one, looking at the loan and the family covering the rest. This is not a reason to avoid private institutions — Njia lists them because they often run the programme you want and publish their fees — but it is the single biggest difference in what you will actually pay, and it is invisible on a course card. Check the KUCCPS eligibility list for the cycle you are applying in, because it is republished each year.
What Njia will not tell you: which band you will land in. The instrument weighs household circumstances Njia does not hold and should not hold. The bands and shares above are the published national framework, reported consistently across Kenyan coverage in 2026; the portal gives your own figure. Confirm the current percentages there before you budget, because a funding model on its fifth revision in forty years can move again.
A Means Testing Instrument run by HELB places you in one of five bands, weighing family income, family size, the type of school you attended, marginalisation and disability. Each band fixes how the cost is split between a government scholarship, a HELB loan and your family:
Band 1 (previously “vulnerable”) — 70% scholarship + 25% loan, household pays 5%.
Band 2 (extremely needy) — 70% scholarship + 30% loan, household pays nothing.
Band 3 (needy, reported around household income up to Ksh 70,000 a month) — 50% scholarship + 30% loan, household pays 20%; upkeep loan Ksh 50,000.
Band 4 (less needy, reported up to Ksh 120,000 a month) — 40% scholarship + 30% loan, household pays 30%; upkeep loan Ksh 45,000.
Band 5 — 30% scholarship + 30% loan, household pays 40%.
How to use this. The percentages are of the course cost, so a cheaper programme lowers your share in shillings even when your band does not move. Two people on the same course in the same lecture hall can owe very different amounts, and that is the model working as designed rather than an error. Apply through the HEF portal at hef.co.ke and HELB, and do it in the application window — a band is assigned from what you submit.
And the scholarship half does not reach a private university. Under this model a student placed at a private university can apply for the HELB loan only — 31 of Kenya’s 32 chartered private universities are HELB-eligible for the 2026 cycle — but the government scholarship is reserved for public universities and the Open University of Kenya. That is the largest share of the split: the scholarship is 30% to 70% of the course cost depending on your band, so a Band 2 student who would pay nothing from the household at a public university is, at a private one, looking at the loan and the family covering the rest. This is not a reason to avoid private institutions — Njia lists them because they often run the programme you want and publish their fees — but it is the single biggest difference in what you will actually pay, and it is invisible on a course card. Check the KUCCPS eligibility list for the cycle you are applying in, because it is republished each year.
What Njia will not tell you: which band you will land in. The instrument weighs household circumstances Njia does not hold and should not hold. The bands and shares above are the published national framework, reported consistently across Kenyan coverage in 2026; the portal gives your own figure. Confirm the current percentages there before you budget, because a funding model on its fifth revision in forty years can move again.
What if my KCSE grade is not great?
This is exactly what the app is built for. It surfaces certificate and TVET pathways, not just degrees, and Decide shows what share of the catalogue your grade opens. A certificate that ladders into a diploma and then a degree is a real, common and respectable route.
I do not know my grade yet. Can I still use it?
Yes. Leave the grade unset and courses stay visible with eligibility marked “unconfirmed” rather than being hidden or wrongly ruled out.
How does government funding work now?
Kenya moved to the Higher Education Funding (HEF) model: instead of a flat loan, students are means-tested into funding bands combining a government scholarship, a HELB loan and a household contribution. You apply through the HEF portal with each intake. Where you train changes what you can get. For 2026, public universities and the 272 TVET colleges under the Ministry of Education are eligible for both the scholarship and the loan; KMTC and the other public colleges run by other ministries are eligible for the HELB loan only, and private universities likewise get the loan but not the scholarship. Check the KUCCPS eligibility list for your cycle, because it is republished each year.
What does TVET actually cost?
Public TVET is government-subsidised, and from May 2026 public institutions charge a single consolidated annual fee of Ksh 67,189 including assessment fees. That figure anchors the public-TVET fees in this catalogue. It is worth knowing why it exists: public TVET charges had nearly doubled in a year, which left some technical colleges costing more than a public university and was driving enrolment down. The rate was set to stop that. So if a college quotes you materially more than Ksh 67,189 a year for a KUCCPS-placed programme, ask what the extra is for — that is a question worth putting to the registrar before you pay. A county vocational training centre is a different case: those are funded by the county and set their own, usually much lower, charge.
I got an E. Is there anything for me?
Yes — the artisan route. KUCCPS sets the minimum for an Artisan certificate (KNQF Level 4) at a mean grade of E, and opens Level 4 to everyone who scored C down to E. It runs about a year, and it is the entry point for the building and mechanical trades: masonry, carpentry and joinery, plumbing, electrical installation, motor vehicle mechanics, welding and fabrication, painting and decoration, refrigeration, hairdressing and beauty, food and beverage, and computer repair. Filter the Course Matcher to Artisan to see them, at a national polytechnic in Nairobi and at a county vocational training centre in Samburu. From there you can ladder up to a Craft certificate (Level 5) and then a Diploma (Level 6) without going back to Form Four. Some centres publish no fee structure at all; where that is true Njia says Not published rather than showing a guessed number, and you should ring the centre for the fee per term, what county capitation covers, and whether tools and the NITA trade-test fee are charged separately.
I never sat KCSE, or I left before Form Four. Is anything open to me?
Yes, but not through KUCCPS — its artisan minimum still assumes a KCSE grade of E. Faith-based and mission training centres are the route that does not. Five are in the Course Matcher — filter to Artisan. Christian Industrial Training Centre (Anglican Church of Kenya) admits to its KNEC artisan certificates on a KCPE certificate, at Pumwani and in Mombasa. YMCA's National Training Institute at Shauri Moyo, running since 1966, takes KCPE holders, KCSE D- and below, and anyone who left before Form Four. St. Kizito in Githurai, founded on Cardinal Otunga's initiative, teaches primary school leavers alongside secondary ones. Don Bosco Boys Technical Training Centre in Karen admits by interview and boards its trainees, though it takes boys only. None of them publishes a fee structure, so ring and ask what is charged and what is sponsored.
Is a trade actually worth it, or should I retake?
Look at the numbers before you assume. Kenya has roughly 5,000 engineers and architects but fewer than 2,000 trained plumbers, painters and masons between them, and two-thirds of developers name skilled-worker shortage as the main brake on building. Certified artisans are reported at Ksh 2,500–3,000 a day, which compares well with what many diploma and degree holders start on. Two honest cautions: that is a day rate, not a salary — work is irregular and seasonal, with no employer pension, paid leave or sick pay — and it is the rate for certified artisans. Uncertified work pays a fraction of it, which is the whole argument for doing the certificate rather than just picking up the tools.
Does any real scholarship ask me to pay a registration fee?
No. No genuine scholarship or bursary in Kenya charges you to apply. Anyone asking for money to “register”, “unlock”, “process” or “guarantee” an award is defrauding you, and this is the most common way money is taken from families at exactly the moment they have least of it.
The specific things to know. HEF and HELB applications are free and happen only on hef.co.ke, helb.co.ke, the HELB app or USSD *642# — lookalike sites and WhatsApp links are the usual trap. NG-CDF and county bursary forms come from the constituency or ward office, never from an individual selling “slots”. The large international programmes — Chevening, DAAD, Fulbright, Commonwealth, Mastercard Foundation — never work through a paid middleman, whatever an agent promising “guaranteed placement” tells you. Never share your M-PESA PIN, an OTP code, or photographs of your ID with anyone claiming to be processing funding; no legitimate funder needs any of the three. If you are unsure, ring the institution’s financial aid office or the constituency NG-CDF office and ask them directly rather than the person who contacted you.
The specific things to know. HEF and HELB applications are free and happen only on hef.co.ke, helb.co.ke, the HELB app or USSD *642# — lookalike sites and WhatsApp links are the usual trap. NG-CDF and county bursary forms come from the constituency or ward office, never from an individual selling “slots”. The large international programmes — Chevening, DAAD, Fulbright, Commonwealth, Mastercard Foundation — never work through a paid middleman, whatever an agent promising “guaranteed placement” tells you. Never share your M-PESA PIN, an OTP code, or photographs of your ID with anyone claiming to be processing funding; no legitimate funder needs any of the three. If you are unsure, ring the institution’s financial aid office or the constituency NG-CDF office and ask them directly rather than the person who contacted you.
What documents should I have ready before any funding window opens?
One folder serves almost every application on the Funding tab, and assembling it in advance matters more than it sounds: missing stamps, missing IDs and names that do not match between documents are the top reasons applications are rejected — not weak need and not weak grades.
Identity and academics: national ID or Maisha Card, both sides (birth certificate if you are still a minor); KCPE and KCSE result slips with their index numbers; your admission letter and admission number; a fee structure and current fee-balance statement stamped by the institution; passport photos on paper and as a file; transcripts if you are already studying.
Need and verification: your parents’ or guardians’ ID copies and phone numbers; death certificates for any deceased parent (this materially changes your assessed need band, so never leave it out); NCPWD card or medical reports if you have a disability; a chief’s or assistant chief’s letter confirming where you live and your circumstances; a letter from a religious leader, which several bursaries and most faith-based funders ask for; any letter from a previous sponsor.
Money and guarantees: a bank account or M-PESA number registered in your own name; two guarantors’ ID numbers and phone numbers for HELB; and one honest page describing your situation, which you can reuse everywhere.
Scan it all to PDF, keep a copy on your phone and a copy in the cloud, and get every stamp before you travel to submit rather than after.
Identity and academics: national ID or Maisha Card, both sides (birth certificate if you are still a minor); KCPE and KCSE result slips with their index numbers; your admission letter and admission number; a fee structure and current fee-balance statement stamped by the institution; passport photos on paper and as a file; transcripts if you are already studying.
Need and verification: your parents’ or guardians’ ID copies and phone numbers; death certificates for any deceased parent (this materially changes your assessed need band, so never leave it out); NCPWD card or medical reports if you have a disability; a chief’s or assistant chief’s letter confirming where you live and your circumstances; a letter from a religious leader, which several bursaries and most faith-based funders ask for; any letter from a previous sponsor.
Money and guarantees: a bank account or M-PESA number registered in your own name; two guarantors’ ID numbers and phone numbers for HELB; and one honest page describing your situation, which you can reuse everywhere.
Scan it all to PDF, keep a copy on your phone and a copy in the cloud, and get every stamp before you travel to submit rather than after.
Can I stack funding sources?
Usually yes — an HEF award, a constituency (NG-CDF) bursary, a county bursary and a private scholarship are separate applications with separate deadlines. The Funding tab lists them with their windows.
Glossary
The 16 abbreviations that appear on every Kenyan admission page, in plain words.
- KCSE
- Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education — the national exam at the end of secondary school, and the grade most tertiary admission decisions hinge on.
- KUCCPS
- Kenya Universities and Colleges Central Placement Service — the body that places KCSE candidates into government-sponsored university and TVET slots.
- HELB
- Higher Education Loans Board — the government student-loans body, now operating within the HEF model.
- HEF
- Higher Education Funding — the means-tested model that sorts students into funding bands combining scholarship, loan and household contribution.
- TVET
- Technical and Vocational Education and Training — the polytechnic and technical-college sector awarding certificates and diplomas. Often faster and far cheaper than a degree, and frequently more employable.
- TVETA
- TVET Authority — the regulator that registers and accredits TVET institutions.
- CUE
- Commission for University Education — the regulator that charters and accredits universities.
- Chartered
- A university with a full charter has completed CUE’s accreditation process, as opposed to operating under interim authority.
- KMTC
- Kenya Medical Training College — the main public trainer of nurses, clinical officers and allied health professionals, with campuses countrywide.
- KRCHN
- Kenya Registered Community Health Nurse — the core nursing diploma qualification recognised across Kenyan health facilities.
- NG-CDF
- National Government Constituency Development Fund — the constituency-level fund whose bursary your local office administers.
- Intake
- The month a course cohort starts. Missing an intake usually means waiting for the next one, which is why deadlines matter more than they look.
- Cluster
- In Njia, one of six career families (Carer, Creator, Business, Tech, People Leader, Numbers) your answers point toward.
- Odyssey Plan
- A life-design exercise: sketch three different plausible five-year lives, rather than defending a single plan.
- Gravity problem
- A constraint you cannot solve directly — like fees you genuinely cannot raise this year. The move is to design around it, not to grind against it.
- OKR
- Objective and Key Results — one goal plus two or three countable measures of progress.