Challenges Facing Higher Education in Management of Privately Sponsored Student Programmes PSSP in Kenya (Published)

Massification or the exponential growth experienced by universities in Kenya for the last one and ahalf decades has negatively impacted on the quality of education being offered by these universities.In their attempt to cater for the large increase in student numbers has come with many challenges caused by overcrowding, crumbling infrastructure, inadequate human and financial resources and declining quality of the professional courses on offer.  This paper sought to identify the challenges faced in the management of Privately Sponsored Students Programmes (PSSP) especially given the continuing expansion in public universities in Kenya. The study was carried out at Moi University, situated in Eldoret, and six of its satellite campuses. Ex post facto design and a mixed method approach study design was used. The target population consisted of all the PSSP students (11,185) enrolled in the academic year 2009/2010 in all the schools that have these programmes and all staff. One hundred and forty (140) teaching and none-teaching staffs were interviewed while 460 students were had questionnaires administered for data collection.  Data was analyzed qualitatively. Unclear university policy for PSSP administration, poor management shrouded by corruption and, inadequate and unqualified teaching staff were among others some of the challenges identified. Public universities need to be open and transparent in management of funds from PSSP Programmes while investing part of the earnings in relevant infrastructure that supports learning in the university.

Keywords: Challenges, Management, PSSP, Public Universities