Open University of Kenya

appreciate the update. That's odd they don't have information yet to provide to prospective students. Is it a kind of a red flag?

 

All African univeristies are terrible, even UNISA from the standpoint of non African students. Just don't do it if you have other options.

 

That's an unfair statement. Have you had experience with all universities in all 54 African countries? More than 10 South African universities rank among the top 1,000 universities in the world, including several in the top 500. Cape Town for example is ranked #116.

 

I was accepted to the M.S. in Cyber Security at OUK (see attachment). The fee quoted in the letter is $870 per year. I'll see if I can defer to a later start. I'm currently on track to earn my M.S. in Homeland Security on April 15th. I'm also wrapping up a two-semester-long teaching certification with ACUE on April 27th. One of the schools I adjunct for sponsored me for the certification and will give me a 2k stipend once I'm done

I think I need a few months to breathe.

 

The level of bureaucracy for non Africans to enroll is terrible even in SA. That is my expereince. You can't usually get a straight answer out of anyone and the process is not straight forward. That is just my opinion based on dealing with a few, nothing wrong with the schools academically but not user friendly.

 

I received the brochure. However, it basically has the same information as the website. No course structure is present. I have attached it nonetheless.

 

So, now they removed my admissions letter from the portal and changed my status to "Follow Up." The sent an email stating:

The OUK Admission team is currently reviewing your application and would request you provide more details on the following:
Attach certified transcripts to confirm number of computer related courses.

I mentioned before that these schools are strict with their "related" degree requirement. I'll probably be denied, but maybe this would be a sign for me to not become a "perpetual/eternal student."

 

Looks interesting. May have been tempting if there's a recognized doctorate in Accounting at that price point.

 

You can see from this thread African univeristies are non African friendly. There are many other universities who will give you a cheap degree.

 

I can't speak to the former, but the latter is definitely true. Budget friendly degrees aren't exclusively from Africa. Over on the sister forum, we had a thread a few months back about South Korea, India, and other nations that offered affordable degrees.

Are there any particular universities or nations that you had in mind, @jonlevy? I think a number of us are keen to expand our horizons on this front.

 

When I'd emailed CUEA over a year ago, they explained that the coursework could all be done remotely but that exams would be residential.

Should they wish to attract students from abroad, I do hope they'll become a bit more flexible on this one someday soon.

 

I can see some threads discussing communication challenges with UNISA. I have not seen "many African universities" being discussed, for the simple reason that online degrees are a newly emerging phenomenon in Africa. It's unlikely that what didn't exist has widely been described as "terrible" or "unfriendly to non-Africans".

I am curious to learn about the many universities that can offer online PhD programs at the same fee as the Open University of Kenya's total cost of approximately $2,600. With my expectation of a reduced workload at the end of this year, this information would be particularly useful to me.

Finally, if we choose to discourage every individual who shows interest in OUK, how shall we ever get feedback about it?

 

Oh wow! That's crazy. KeMU did not have an in-person requirement. They have a lockdown browser for exams.

 

Great observations. I can't speak on the quality of education in Kenya, but I will say, like Jamaica, it can be difficult navigating the administrative processes when doing businesses. This includes applying for schools. However, I cannot use my experience in the U.S. as a benchmark for how other institutions should operate. As a traveler, you either adopt to what the specific country requires or stay in your comfort zone. So, I've learned to just do what is required of me, despite the frustration. Thankfully, poor communication has not been an issue with any of the universities (well over 5) I've dealt with in Kenya. They all reply to emails within a day or so. Remember, Kenya is the tech headquarters in Africa, often referred to as the "Silicon Savannah."