Most competitive degree courses in Kenya [KUCCPS]

KUCCPS has released its annual report on the most competitive degree courses in Kenya.

These are the courses that have the highest number of applications on the KUCCPS (Kenya Universities & Colleges Central Placement Service) portal and are considered to be hotcake courses in Kenya.

Below you will find the latest list of the most competitive degree courses in Kenya.

Most competitive degree courses in Kenya according to the KUCCPS Data

The most sought-after courses in Kenya’s institutions of higher learning are:

1.   Medicine and surgery

Thousands of qualified students harbor dreams of working in Kenya’s burgeoning health sector and have been seeking admission in medicine-related courses never mind that it’s one of the highly demanding courses in Kenya.

2.   Architectural studies

Students who have freshly finished form four have also inundated Universities offering architectural programs such as Bachelor of Architecture/Architectural Studies(B.Arch) in Kenya with applications.

These include the University of Nairobi and KU (Kenyatta University).

3.   Aeronautical engineering

Also appearing among the most competitive degree courses in Kenya is aeronautical engineering according to the report.

Notably, aeronautical engineering in Kenya is only offered by a few selected institutions with many students opting to pursue studies at the Technical University of Kenya (TUKENYA) and Moi University.

Competition for the few chances in the involved institutions is therefore extremely high.

4.   Civil engineering

Civil engineering is widely believed to be among the top marketable degree courses in Kenya and has accordingly been a target for thousands of students seeking to join Kenyan universities.

JKUAT, Nairobi University, and the Technical University are some of the best colleges offering this course.

5.   Clinical medicine

Programmes like Bsc. (Bachelor of Science) in Clinical Medicine also made it into the report of the most competitive degree courses in Kenya.

The course is available in both public and private institutions like MKU, Egerton University, and Methodist University.

6.   Nursing

In Kenya, nursing programmes are tremendously popular with thousands upon thousands of students seeking entry in accredited institutions to kick-start their careers.

The most popular Universities with students seeking to study nursing are  Nairobi , Egerton,  Mount Kenya University, Kenyatta University, Dedan Kimathi University, and  Methodist University.

At the Diploma level, the most preferred nursing school seems to be KMTC.

7.   Law

Closely following Nursing in terms of the applications received is the Bachelor of Laws(LLB) course.

As a result, universities offering law in Kenya like Catholic and Daystar have been attracting a multitude of interested students.

8.   Computer science and Information Technology

Kenya is a leader in ICT innovations in Africa and this seems to have made computer science and ICT courses to be well-liked by form 4 leavers.

The two courses are widely available. Indeed, most of the universities offer the programme.

Problem is, most of the applicants want to take the course at the older universities such as JKUAT and Maseno University ignoring the newer institutions.

Other hotcake courses in Kenya

Other courses attracting an avalanche of applications according to KUCCPS are:

• Aerospace engineering– students applying for aeronautical engineering also select aerospace engineering as their second option.
• Electrical and electronics engineering– The data shows that courses such as BSc. in Electrical & Electronic Engineering(JKUAT and the Technical University) fascinate thousands of KCSE top performers.
• Quantity surveying- This is offered at the Technical University of Kenya, JKUAT, and a couple of other institutions of higher learning in Kenya.
• Electronics and computer engineering.
• Electrical and telecommunication engineering.
• Community health.

It’s worth noting that a majority of these degrees appear in the list of the top 30 most marketable courses in Kenya.

Final words

In total, KUCCPS has more than 529 degrees available for application by students with the older universities admitting a lion’s share of the scholars, having declared a larger capacity.

These include Moi, Nairobi, Egerton, JKUAT, KU, and Maseno.

Other popular destinations for learners according to KUCCPS are Kisii University, Masinde Muliro, and Kirinyaga University.

On the other hand, leading private universities in terms of admissions are MKU, Catholic, Kabarak, KCA University, and Methodist.

They too offer a good number of the most competitive degree courses in Kenya.

Zetech, Daystar, and St Pauls have lower capacities and don’t admit as many government-sponsored learners as the rest.