Kenyatta University (KU) has claimed the title of Kenya’s leading institution in the World Universities Rankings 2025, surpassing the University of Nairobi (UoN).
According to the Times Higher Education report, no Kenyan universities made it to the top ten in Africa, which is dominated by eight South African institutions, one from Nigeria, and one from Ghana.
Other Kenyan universities featured include Amref International University, Egerton University, Jaramogi Oginga Odinga University of Science and Technology, Kabarak University, Kibabii University, Kisii University, Maasai Mara University, Machakos University, Catholic University of East Africa, University of Eldoret, University of Kabianga, and Zetech University.
The rankings assess universities based on key performance indicators in five categories: teaching quality, research environment, research quality, international perspective, and industry engagement. Teaching quality accounts for 29.5%, while research environment and quality contribute 29% and 30%, respectively.
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In teaching, factors considered include faculty reputation, student-to-teacher ratio, doctoral-to-bachelor’s ratio, and financial health.
KU received a score of 14.2%, and UoN got 12.5%. Scores for other Kenyan universities were not shared.
Regarding research, factors like reputation, funding, and results are considered. UoN did better than KU, scoring 9.8% for research environment and 37.3% for research quality, while KU scored 8.9% and 27.2%.
Nick Hillman, director of the Higher Education Policy Institute, noted that underfunding often leads to poor staff-to-student ratios and inadequate evaluation resources, and that countries investing in higher education may improve their standings.
“When you underfund university teaching, as we have been doing, the result is often worse staff-to-student ratios, problems with marking and evaluation and inadequate contact hours or class sizes. If you do this while other countries take the opposite route, your relative position is bound to deteriorate,” he said.
Globally, the University of Oxford maintains its top position for the ninth consecutive year, followed by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Harvard University, Princeton University, and the University of Cambridge.
Other universities in the top ten include Stanford, California Institute of Technology, University of California, Berkeley, Imperial College London, and Yale University.
Oxford has set a record by surpassing Harvard’s eight-year reign. This achievement is supported by more funding from industry and an increase in patents from its research.
In Africa, the top universities are the University of Cape Town, Stellenbosch University, University of the Witwatersrand, University of Johannesburg, University of KwaZulu-Natal, University of Pretoria, University of the Western Cape, Covenant University, North-West University, and the University of Cape Coast.
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