Abstract:
The demand for higher education has led the Kenyan government to encourage and grant
charter to several private universities. These universities absorb qualified students who could
not be admitted by the then Joint Admission Board of public universities. Therefore in recent
years, there has been an increase of students’ enrollment in private universities which may mean
that parents and students have observed quality education indicators in these institutions. In
effect, there is need to establish the views that staff and students have on the indicators of quality
education in selected private institutions in Kenya. The purpose of the study was to assess views
of academic staff and the students on the indicators of quality education. The study utilized a
descriptive survey research design. The study population was 2500 that included both the
academic staff and students (third years and fourth years). From this population, a sample of
320 respondents was used to collect data which included the teaching staff and students of the
selected universities. The respondents were sampled using purposive, stratified, and simple
random techniques. Closed-ended questionnaires were used to collect data. Descriptive statistics
was used to analyze data. Data was presented using tables, frequencies and percentages. The
findings revealed that the key indicators of quality in private universities were excellent job
performance of graduates in their place of work, comprehensive course content coverage,
quality test assessments and evaluations, students’ involvement in research, completion of course
in good time and a job market oriented course. It is recommended that private universities put in
place parameters or indicators of quality that apply across the board so that any institution
aspiring to offer higher education will benchmark itself
