The Commission for University Education initiated the concept of and organises annual exhibitions to market Kenyan Universities and their academic programmes to the public. Between 2002 and 2008, the Commission has coordinated six such exhibitions whose objectives are:

• To demonstrate the role played by universities and higher education in the country’s overall development;
• To educate and inform potential students and the public at large about the programmes available to them in our local universities;
• To foster university-industry partnerships;
• To demonstrate the extent to which universities have utilized information communication technologies (ICTs) in the fulfillment of their mandates; and
• To provide a forum to engage stakeholders in a dialogue.

Every effort has been made to involve non-university institutions in the exhibitions. There is consensus that more industry participation would be the desired direction for subsequent exhibitions. Running concurrently with the exhibitions is a series of seminar sessions where stakeholders are engaged in discussions on pertinent issues in higher education. Among the issues that have been deliberated upon are:

• Quality and relevance in university education;
• Financing university education;
• Various perspectives on expanding access to university education;
• The challenges to universities and industry in the knowledge-based economy;
• Cross-border education;
• Disaster preparedness and management;
• Drugs, substance abuse and HIV/ AIDS;
• University's role in the peace building process

During the exhibition, universities showcase the products and services available to Kenyans, and highlight their responses to the myriad challenges in the higher education sector.

The Commission is committed to raising awareness and utilization by the public of the products and services offered by universities in Kenya. Previously, all exhibitions used to be held in Nairobi, the capital city but this has changed with the focus being in other provinces. The past two exhibitions have been held in Nyanza (Kisumu) and Coast (Mombasa) provinces respectively.