This article explores the socio-economic and political factors which have contributed to the rapid expansion of education in the public universities in Kenya and how it has impacted on the quality of education in these institutions. It mainly focuses on the response to insatiable public demands for university education in the country as well as historical and regional inequalities and how the expansion has affected the quality in terms of facilities and teaching and learning technologies, staffing and instruction. Finally, the article proposes some measures of improving the quality of education in the public universities in the country. (Contains 1 table.)