Mount Kenya University 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, 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. The university maintains campuses at the following locations, as of April, 2020.
The institution was founded in 1996 as Thika Institute of Technology. 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 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, Twelve schools and three institutes: Institutes
The University has ample sporting fields at its' main campus and at the graduation Pavillion 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 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 where they study and submit Continuous Assessment Tests 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 , Constituency Development Fund,Scholarships example DAAD Scholarships for Postgraduate studies and donors. The university allows students to pay their fees on easy monthly installments gives partial scholarships to needy students who are already enrolled at the University.
Memberships
Mount Kenya University is a member of the following associations:
