Oldest university in Kenya but still a great place for higher learning
Named after the famous Lord Egerton, Egerton university is one of the oldest universities in Kenya. The university has three campuses and it’s main one located in Njoro. The main campus houses the school of Medicine, Arts and Social Sciences, Agriculture and School of Engineering. The Kenyatta campus located about 5km from the main campus offers the open and distance learning programs while the Nairobi campus offers Commerce , Education and Community studies. The main campus is well-built with great security since they incorporated full time CCTV surveillance. At the entrance, they also have X ray baggage security scanners which are used to check students bags upon entry to ensure maximum safety. Initially built as a farm school by Lord Maurice Egerton, it is no surprise that this university is renowned for its quality education in agriculture and any agriculture related courses. The university has numerous academic achievements including being repeatedly ranked #1 in Kenya and Africa in Webometrics, undertaking ground breaking research projects on soil fertility replenishment, tropical legumes, epidemiology and policy analysis matrix. The grounds are quite extensive endowed with old buildings which give one a “walking through history” feel. New structures and facilities to better the learning experience of students like building of the new library are currently underway. Riding around campus grounds on bikes is definitely something I’ll miss about studying here. My favourite thing about Egerton is that the campus is built in a very serene environment surrounded with trees everywhere providing one with perfect reading environment and a great place to just relax during breaks. The only downsides that the university should make an effort to improve on is the ocassional water shortage in the school hostels which affects many students since a huge percentage of the student population stay there. Another downside is the closure of the in-school hotels and food shops leaving only one to serve the entire student population. This was quite a bummer since the restaurants outside the school are quite a distance off campus grounds since the university isn’t located near Njoro’s main shopping centre. Besides this , Egerton university continues to make huge steps towards the acquisition of higher learning experience in Kenya.