Effect of Academic Staff Retention on Quality Education in Private Universities in Kenya

In recent years, there has been an increase of students’ enrollment in private universities in Kenya. In effect, there has been a great need to recruit and retain quality academic staff. Studies reveal that it has been difficult to retain academic staff especially in private universities in specialized areas and required experience. A literature gap exists in Kenya on the effect of academic staff retention on the quality of education in private universities. The aim of the study was to determine the effect of academic staff retention on quality education in private universities in Kenya. A survey design was considered appropriate for this study. A sample of 336 respondents was used to collect data which included the Human resource managers, academic staff, and students of the selected universities. The sample was selected using purposive stratified and simple random sampling techniques. Questionnaires were used to collect the data which was analyzed by use of frequencies and percentages. The study established that academic staff retention affects quality of education in private universities in Kenya. It was concluded that academic staff retention has a significant effect on quality education without which quality would be compromised. The study recommended that private universities should formulate and implement retention policies and allocate adequate resources to curb high academic staff turnover. Key words: academic staff retention, private universities, quality of academic staff, quality education, university education.