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Open University of Kenya – PhD in Economics, blended online, ~US$2,600 total - Printable Version

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Open University of Kenya – PhD in Economics, blended online, ~US$2,600 total - truthfulness - 10-22-2026

Found a rare one. Online PhDs in Economics are scarce, and I have not seen one at this price from a public university.
The Open University of Kenya (OUK) is a specialised public university, chartered in August 2023 and listed by Kenya's Commission for University Education. It offers a PhD in Economics:
  • Cost: KES 337,500 total for the whole programme (Year 1: 162,000 / Year 2: 132,000 / Year 3: 43,500) — roughly US$2,600. Students from outside the East African Community pay 10% more, so ~US$2,860.
  • Duration: 3 years (6 semesters), maximum 10 semesters.
  • Delivery: Blended online, approx. 80% asynchronous / 20% synchronous.
  • Entry: A Master's in Economics, or a relevant Master's from an accredited university.
  • Structure: Taught coursework in the first 3 semesters (advanced micro, macro, econometrics, ML in economics, etc.), comprehensive paper in semester 4, then thesis.
  • Link: https://ouk.ac.ke/doctor-of-philosophy-%28PHD%29-in-economics
Caveats worth knowing before anyone gets excited:
  1. Graduation requires a thesis of at least 50,000 words plus two articles published in peer-reviewed, impact-factor journals — that is the real cost of this degree, in time and possibly APCs.
  2. OUK is new (2023), so there is no track record of PhD graduates or foreign credential evaluations (WES etc.) yet.
  3. The page does not say whether exams and the thesis defence can be done fully from abroad.
Has anyone here contacted admissions about international enrolment, or applied?

Update on faculty: the programme page lists no instructors or supervisors. OUK's 2024 recruitment advert showed just 1 Senior Lecturer and 2 Lecturer posts in Economics for the whole school, and PhD supervisors appear to be drawn from an external pool recruited via an open call (minimum: PhD + 3 peer-reviewed papers in 5 years). Ask admissions for the approved supervisor list before enrolling.

RE: Open University of Kenya – PhD in Economics, blended online, ~US$2,600 total - DegreeNerd - 10-24-2026

https://ouk.ac.ke/history-ouk

They're very young! Founded 2023



And is true, students from elsewhere in the world pay an extra 10% (which is very reasonable): 
https://ouk.ac.ke/programmes-fee-structure