UMMA University announced a KSh770 million plan to build two on-campus hostel blocks.
The hostels will provide 316 beds – 158 for male and 158 for female students – and will include ablution blocks, common rooms, laundry areas and supporting infrastructure, according to regulatory disclosures.
Each block will have four floors above a ground floor, and the university currently serves over 2,000 students, many of whom live off-campus along the Nairobi-Namanga highway, a situation the university says poses security risks and adds costs.
The university explained that the development is intended to expand on-campus accommodation in response to growing enrolment, quoting: “The proposed development is intended to expand on-campus student accommodation in response to growing enrolment, and will comprise two (2) hostel blocks with a capacity of 316 bed spaces, together with associated ablution blocks, common rooms, laundry areas and support infrastructure.”
Private university enrolments rose to 589,907 in the year to June 2026 from 516,151 a year earlier, highlighting the sector’s accommodation pressures.
UMMA, founded in 1997 as Thika College of Sharia and Islamic Studies, became a private university in 2013 and received its full charter in 2019.
The university is joining a trend where institutions partner with investors such as Acorn Holdings Limited, which develops student hostels under the Qwetu and Qejani brands and provides transport services for residents of its hostels at other Kenyan universities.
Acorn’s existing partnerships include the University of Nairobi, Strathmore University, Daystar University, United States International University-Africa and Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology.
