How Kenya can fix its worrying PhD and Master's completion crisis

Kenya faces a pressing crisis in its higher education system stemming from the staggeringly low completion rates for PhD and Master’s degrees. Many postgraduate students fail to graduate on time, according to the Commission for University Education (CUE).

This is because many students remain trapped in academic limbo for years, sometimes up to a decade, due to inadequate supervision, funding shortages, and bureaucratic inefficiencies. This risks turning Kenya’s universities into factories of unfinished dreams, where systemic failures stifle potential rather than nurture transformative impact.

Estimates show that around 70 per cent of students enrolled in postgraduate studies in Kenya fail to complete their studies within the stipulated time frame. This is not merely an academic concern as it also carries profound economic consequences. Each delayed degree represents lost expertise, stifled innovation, and squandered resources, costing Kenya millions.

Yet, Kenya is not alone in this struggle. Countries like South Africa, Germany, Norway, and others have tackled similar challenges with innovative reforms, offering practical solutions that Kenya can adapt to revitalise its graduate education system.

One of the most glaring issues in Kenya’s graduate programmes is the lack of structured timelines. Vague or unenforced deadlines allow students to drift, resulting in delayed completion, or, in the worst-case scenario, dropout.

Without clear milestones, rigorous supervision, and accountability mechanisms, even promising researchers can fall victim to a system that prioritises enrolment over timely completion. While Kenya grapples with these barriers and systemic stagnation, evidence-based solutions exist elsewhere.

South Africa’s nationally backed PhD reforms such as the NRF Doctoral Support Programme and university-led initiatives, have proven effective. At institutions like the University of Cape Town and Stellenbosch, enforcing strict milestones (e.g., proposal approval within 12 months, data collection by Year 2, and submission by Year 4) increased completion rates by up to 40 per cent.

Kenya could adopt this model by embedding such timelines into university policies and penalising departments that tolerate endless delays. Also, tools like digital dashboards, already in use at Uganda’s Makerere University, could track progress in real time, ensuring students stay on course.

Multiple sources highlight Kenya’s supervision crisis. For example, a previous report found that 58 per cent of postgraduate students meet supervisors less than monthly, while 15 per cent wait over a year for feedback. Similarly, another study reported 62 per cent of students cited infrequent meetings as a key delay factor.

This neglect stalls progress and breeds frustration. The chronic supervision deficit might also be turning postgraduate programmes into a lottery, where a student’s success depends more on luck than institutional support, wasting both talent and financial resources.

Germany’s 'Supervision Agreements' provide a stark contrast. Supervisors are legally required to meet students bi-weekly and deliver feedback within 14 days of submission, with replacements appointed for those who fail to comply. This system drives a 75 per cent on-time graduation rate for German PhD students. Kenya should mandate similar contracts, coupled with penalties for absentee supervisors. Reducing faculty teaching loads, as Botswana does, could also free up time for meaningful mentorship, ensuring students receive the guidance they need.

Financial hardship is a major barrier to timely completion in Kenya. According to KNBS’s 2023 Economic Survey, 45 per cent of Master’s students discontinue their studies primarily due to unaffordable tuition and living costs.

This shows how economic barriers stifle Kenya’s skilled workforce pipeline. Norway’s transformative approach of treating PhD candidates as employees, with monthly salaries and benefits, could offer a viable solution. This financial stability fuels a 90 per cent completion rate, the highest in Europe. While Kenya may not replicate Norway’s funding levels overnight, it can move forward incrementally.

Expanding National Research Fund (NRF) grants to cover living stipends, not just tuition, would ease the burden. Partnerships with private sector organisations could also fund research in exchange for innovation rights, benefiting students and the economy alike.

Beyond structural and financial hurdles, Kenyan graduate students grapple with isolation, anxiety, and weak writing skills. These are challenges that also contribute to dropout. Uganda’s Makerere University has curbed these issues with thesis-writing retreats, cutting submission delays by 30 per cent.

Similarly, Singapore pairs students with industry mentors to align research with market needs, enhancing motivation and relevance.

Kenyan universities should introduce free writing workshops and peer-support groups like South Africa’s 'PhD Circles'. These initiatives can build a supportive community, helping students to overcome personal and academic obstacles.

Critics might argue that such reforms are unaffordable for Kenya’s economy. However, this view overlooks feasible precedents. Botswana, with a smaller GDP than Kenya, fully funds its PhD students by prioritising resources strategically.

Kenya could follow suit by reallocating budgets from the NRF and Higher Education Loans Board postgraduate loans to focus on completion, not just enrollment. With the right political will, what Botswana has achieved is equally possible for Kenya.

Kenya’s Vision 2030 depends on a knowledge-based economy, but this ambition will fail without a steady supply of skilled researchers. The current system must be reformed to prevent undermining this goal.

The solution? Adopt structured timelines like South Africa’s, enforce supervision accountability like Germany’s, provide funding like Norway’s, and offer robust support systems like those in Uganda. Kenyan universities must shift from being warehouses of unfinished research to engines of innovation.

Finally, Vice Chancellors must implement supervision policies and timelines, and the CUE should audit completion rates. Parliament can also to develop a “Graduate Completion Bill” to enshrine these reforms in law.