As the sole regulatory body for higher education in Kenya, the Commission is duty-bound to inform members of the public of those universities that are authorized to operate in the country. The Commission regularly keeps the public abreast of new developments in the higher education scenario as well as making public pronouncements to caution them of those institutions which have not been mandated by the Commission to offer university-level education in the country.
The role of the Commission is that of coordination. The Commission has continued to coordinate the preparation of Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) based on the guidelines issued by the Ministry of Finance.
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.
For those Kenyans who attain qualifications from foreign universities, the Commission undertakes recognition of qualifications and examines the content of the respective training programmes in order to equate the content and achievement levels with those that have been obtained within the Kenyan university system. To this effect, the Commission has guidelines for the recognition and equation of degrees and diplomas.
The Commission for University Education Information Resource Centre (CUE-IRC) is a specialized reference and resource facility. The purpose of the center is to provide accurate, up-to-date information on various aspects of higher education such as quality assurance, university education, increased access, expansion of higher education and financing higher education.