KMTC says about 20,000 placed students miss admission each intake over fees

The Kenya Medical Training College's CEO told Parliament that many students with KUCCPS placements cannot afford fees and are excluded from government student funding.

What happened

The Kenya Medical Training College (KMTC) has said that approximately 20,000 students placed in its campuses through the Kenya Universities and Colleges Central Placement Service (KUCCPS) fail to take up their admission slots in every intake cycle because they cannot afford the training fees [1][3]. CEO Dr Kelly Oluoch gave the figures to the National Government Constituencies Development Fund (NG-CDF) Committee in Parliament on Thursday, November 5 [1]. He asked Parliament to help secure Higher Education Loans Board (HELB) financing for KMTC trainees [1].

Why Kenyans are searching for it

The sources do not explain why this topic is drawing searches now. They describe the parliamentary appearance and the funding gap, but do not say what prompted public interest in KMTC admissions.

Key facts

• According to Oluoch, KMTC trainees lack access to government scholarships and student loans [1].
• Oluoch said the gap arises because KMTC operates under the Ministry of Health, not the Ministry of Education, which oversees higher education funding [1][3].
• Students are excluded from the Ksh300 billion education financing package, according to Oluoch [1][3].
• KMTC has 89,586 students and, according to Oluoch, trains more than 85 per cent of Kenya's healthcare workforce [1].
• KUCCPS reported that KMTC had 34,048 places available in 2025 [1].
• Students who do not report leave places that qualified students could have taken [1].
• Oluoch said KMTC should stay under the Health Ministry because of its extensive clinical training, hospital attachments and healthcare regulatory bodies [1][3].
• Oluoch cited Bukura Agricultural College, Kenya Water Institute and Utalii College as institutions that operate under sector ministries and receive state support [1][3].

What to watch

The sources do not report any decision by Parliament on HELB financing for KMTC trainees, so it is unclear whether Oluoch's request will lead to a change. The Pulse Kenya headline refers to students forfeiting places "every year", while the body of its report and the Kenyans.co.ke report refer to each intake cycle [1][3]. The Pulse Kenya extract is also cut off mid-sentence in its discussion of recent vacancies, so its figures on those vacancies could not be checked.

Sources

1. [1] KMTC CEO Reveals Why 20,000 Students Miss Slots Despite KUCCPS Placement - Kenyans.co.ke
2. [2] KMTC seeks HELB funding as 20,000 students forfeit training slots over fees - KBC Digital
3. [3] Why 20,000 students are forfeiting their dream medical careers every year - Pulse Kenya

Compiled by the NairobiCity trend desk from the sources above.