Mount Kenya University

Mount Kenya University (MKU) is a private, multi-campus, chartered and ISO 9001:2015 Certified university in Kenya. It was founded by Prof. Simon N. Gicharu. MKU is one of the largest private universities in the country, with a student body in excess of 52,000, as at September 2015.

Location

The main campus of MKU is located in Thika, approximately 47 kilometres (29 mi), by road, northeast of Nairobi, the capital and largest city in Kenya. The coordinates of the university’s main campus are 1°02’44.0″S, 37°04’54.0″E (-1.045559 37.081669).

The university maintains campuses at the following locations, as of April, 2020.

Thika (Main) Campus – General Kago Road, Thika
Mombasa Campus – MKU Plaza, Nkurumah Road, Mombasa
Nairobi Campus – MKU Towers and Union Towers, Nairobi
Parklands Law Campus
Open Distance and Electronic Learning (ODEL) Center – main campus
Nakuru Campus – Great Rift Plaza, opp Valley Hospital, Nakuru
Eldoret Campus – Eldoret
Meru Campus – Meru [opp Meru County Assembly]
MKU Rwanda Campus – Kagarama, Kicukiro, Kigali

MKU ODEL centres, marketing offices, and country offices

Kisumu ODEL Centre – Reliance Building, Oginga Odinga Road, Kisumu
Kericho ODEL Centre – Sinendet Plaza, Kericho
Malindi ODEL Centre – 2nd Floor, Noor Plaza, Malindi.
Nyeri office – MKU Plaza Nyeri
Kitale ODEL Centre – Kitale
Kakamega ODEL Centre – Kakamega
Kisii ODEL Centre – Gesonso, Kisii-Migori highway, Kisii
Isiolo Office, MKU Plaza, Isiolo
Garissa Office – Corner Plaza & Kenya Commercial Bank Building, Garissa
Hargeisa Office – Shacab Area (Former UNICEF Building), Hargeisa, Somaliland
Kampala, Uganda Office – Bombo Road, Kampala
Bujumbura, Burundi – Ground Floor, ABC Building, Avenue de l’Amitié, Bujumbura

History

The institution was founded in 1996 as Thika Institute of Technologyby Dr Simon Gicharu.In 2000 the Institute developed into a commercial college offering management and computer training programmes. Later in the year the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology recognized the institute as a fully-fledged institution of higher learning and granted it a full registration approval. In 2005 the Institute became the 1st private institution in Kenya to be allowed to train pharmaceutical technologists by the Pharmacy and Poisons Board of the Kenya Ministry of Health.

In 2006 the Commission for Higher Education (CHE) validated and approved the institute’s request for collaboration with JKUAT to offer both diploma and degree programmes. After fulfilling all the requirements, the Commission for Higher Education issued MKU with the authority to establish a full-fledged privately funded university. In 2011, the university was awarded a charter by the government of Kenya, upon the recommendation of the Commission of Higher Education.

Academics

The university is organised into three colleges, 12 schools, and three institutes:

Institutes

Institute of Security Studies, Justice and Ethics
Institute of Film, Creative and Performing Arts
Equip Africa Institute

Colleges

College of Graduate Studies and Research
College of Health Sciences
Equip College of Medical and Health Sciences

Schools

College of Health Sciences
- Medical School
- School of Pharmacy
- School of Clinical Medicine
- School of Nursing
- School of Public Health
School of Business and Economics
School of Education
School of Engineering, Energy and the Built Environment
School of Pure and Applied Sciences
School of Social Sciences
School of Law
School of Computing and Informatics
Bachelor of medicine and Bachelor of Surgery MBChB
Bachelor of Science in Dental Technology
Bachelor of Science in Oral Health
Bachelor of Science in Medical Laboratory Sciences
Ph.D in Medical Laboratory Sciences
Diploma in Medical laboratory Science
Diploma in Community Oral Health
Diploma in Dental Technology
Options for Masters and Ph.D – Immunology, Haematology & Blood transfusion, Microbiology, Urology, Molecular Biology, Histology & Cytology, Parasitology & Entomology, Clinical Chemistry

Sporting amenities

The university has ample sporting fields at its main campus and at the graduation pavilion located at Happy Valley Grounds. In addition to the open fields, the University has an indoor games arena, ultra-modern basket ball pitch, swimming pool, and entertainment halls where students can unwind.

Located at the centre of the students’ side is a circular 3-storey building well known as the student centre. The student centre hosts a fully equipped gym which is commonly used for body building, pool table , dart, playstation studio, and other sporting facilities.

Mount Kenya University is at the frontline of honing students sporting activities, some of our alumni who performed well in sports include Rugby Player Martin Owira

Admissions

Mount Kenya University admits both government-sponsored students through the Kenya Universities and Colleges Central Placement Service (KUCCPS) and also self-sponsored students.

The University also admits international students who either travel to pursue their studies in Kenya or enroll for E-learning through the Open Distance and Electronic Learning, where they study and submit Continuous Assessment Tests (CAT) online. Exams are issued from MKU Coordination office or the Kenya Embassy in their residing country.

Financial aid

Mount Kenya University students can get funding from Higher Education Loans Board (HELB), Constituency Development Fund, Scholarships example DAAD Scholarships for Postgraduate studies and donors. The university allows students to pay their fees on easy monthly installments (Pay as You Learn)

Mount Kenya University Foundation gives partial scholarships to needy students who are already enrolled at the university.