Over 15,000 students who qualified to join university in last year's secondary school examinations were yet to apply for places by Thursday evening.
The Kenya Universities and Colleges Central Placement Service (Kuccps) closes the final and last window for revisions and applications on Saturday midnight.
According to (Kuccps) Chief Executive Officer Agnes Mercy Wahome, 157,498 students had applied for placement.
Some 173,127 Kenyan citizens scored an average grade of C+ and above in the 2022 Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education Examination.
This secured them direct entry into university.
However, the percentage of non-applicants was nine per cent, representing an improvement from the 10 per cent who did not apply for placement in 2022.
Kuccps is expected to compile and release the final placement details to candidates on which courses and universities they will join.
Wahome said the results would be released by the end of the month "to give parents at least a month to prepare and students to apply for funding".
Students wishing to be placed in diploma, certificate and trades courses will start applications.
In the two-course revision phases that ended recently some applicants failed to secure placement in any of the courses they listed.
This was due to competition, as placement is based on merit and availability of seats in the respective institutions.
"I have observed that many students are still fixated on the traditional courses like medicine which cannot accommodate all qualified students who apply for them,"Wahome told the Nation.
She said competitive courses such as medicine, pharmacy and nursing fill up quickly due to the large number of qualified applicants.
Public universities offered 523 places for the three courses.
To qualify for these courses, students must have average grades between B+ and A. In the 2022 exam, 1,156 candidates scored A, 6,658 scored A - (minus) and 15,938 scored B+.
"From the numbers, it is clear that a student with A (minus) or B+ is unlikely to get into medicine or any other competitive courses. However, this does no prevent them from enrolling in these courses as Module II students, " Wahome said.
