Kenyan students increasingly looking at studying abroad

This week the Institute of International Education (IIE), released the annual Open Doors Report showing the rising importance of Ghana as an origin country for the US. 

Africa is a crucial source of international students looking to study abroad, with Nigeria, Ghana, and South Africa shoring up much interest from institutions. However, there are other recruitment markets on the continent that warrant further attention, such as Kenya. 

Studyportals Origin country dashboard combines our student interest data with forecast data from Oxford Economics to give a fuller picture of the opportunity. According to this data, the number of 15-24 year olds in Kenya is forecasted to grow by 20.9% by 2030. Meanwhile, the number of households that earn at least $35,000 is projected to grow by 125.2% by 2030, which is higher than the projected growth for Africa as a whole (+45.1%).  

Furthermore, Studyportals data has seen a consistent rise in Kenyan student interest in recent years, with a surge of +23.6% year-over-year. This rise may stem from issues surrounding a rapid expansion of higher education alongside strained resources, skill gaps, and high youth unemployment. As a result of these factors, there has been a sharp decline in local students’ interest in pursuing Bachelor or Master programmes since 2021. 

Despite a decline to study at home, Kenyan interest to study abroad is on the rise, Bachelor’s & Master’s combined (excluding Kenya)

Consequently, our data shows other study destinations such as the UK, Canada, Germany, and the US are seeing increased interest from Kenya. This indicates that Kenya is an important market for higher education institutions to consider in their recruitment strategies.  

As Kenyan interest to study at home falls, other study destinations see increased interest, Bachelor’s & Master’s combined

What are Kenyan students interested in studying? Studyportals data shows growing interest for Computer Science, Engineering, Medicine, and Applied Sciences programmes. To find out more about Studyportals data insights visit https://act.studyportals.com/analytics/  

Year-over-year growth in relative Kenyan interest towards Studyportals disciplines