This research study explores how faith-based universities in Kenya are responding to rapid changes in the higher education market and policy environment as they endeavor to function as part of the national university system and maintain religious heritage. The research investigates one primary question emerging from my 2012 pilot study of private universities in Kenya: how are changes in higher education policy and the national context impacting faith-based universities (FBUs)? The focus is two-fold: identifying environmental factors affecting FBUs, and describing ways in which FBUs are adapting to such factors. Qualitative, multiple case study analysis (Stake 2000; Yin, 2009) allows for robust investigation of one type of institution in the diverse landscape of Kenya, a nation that boasts some of the oldest public and newest private universities in East Africa. Environmental factors under investigation include changes in national policies (2010 Constitution, 2012 University Act, Vision 2030), trends in the higher education market, and socio-cultural shifts. Few studies have sought to understand the role of FBUs even though such institutions offer a large percentage of state-accredited programs in Kenya (Commission of Higher Education, 2012). Accordingly, this study investigates the dynamic between national and institutional goals to illuminate FBUs role in the national system. This study utilizes an organizational framework (Bolman & Deal, 1984, 2008) to analyze institutional responses and a systems approach (Chapman & Austin, 2002; van Vught, 2008) to interpret those responses within the national context. Levy’s typology (1986, 2009a) offers dimensions of comparative analysis between religious-oriented and other types of private universities. Benne’s (2001) typology of church-related colleges is useful for identifying the influences upon and changes within the inner workings of FBUs. The study elicits multiple perspectives to inform analysis of three purposefully-selected FBUs: Catholic University of Eastern Africa, Daystar University, and Pan Africa Christian University. Primary data sources include institutional documents, field notes, and semi-structured interviews with 33 leaders and faculty members as well as two public officials at the Commission for University Education, the government agency that oversees all public and private universities. The study concludes that shifts in the higher education environment are influencing how leaders and faculty members perceive the vision for Christian higher education, the means by which FBUs carry out their educative mission, and the context in which the institutions function. The study yields theoretical and practical implications for Christian higher education in Africa, university leaders, faculty members, and policy-makers. The research is significant for several reasons: insights from the institutional perspective will be relevant to developing countries, like Kenya, where public systems increasingly rely upon private institutions to abate escalating demand for higher education, where concerns about quality are changing government-university relations, and where religious-oriented higher education persists.Findings contribute to scholarship of international higher education systems, organizational adaptation, institutional theory, and Christian higher education. Discussion considers universities’ roles in multiple dimensions of development in Kenya and sub-Saharan Africa. The study invites further research to explore methodological approaches that foster an integrated understanding of African perspectives of development, religion, and education, eschewing a polarizing (arguably imposed) dichotomy between sacred and secular.
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