Rift Valley Academy

The Rift Valley Academy is in Kijabe, central Kenya. It sits on 90 acres of the upper escarpment overlooking Kenya's Rift Valley. The campus is at an elevation of over 7,000 feet and is home to nineteen dormitories, a gym, a music building, a drama hall, two sports fields, tennis and basketball courts, a chapel, a cafeteria, and student health and counseling facilities.

The school comprises an elementary, a junior high, and a senior high school.

Christian boarding school.

Academic Support Services provide support for students with special needs in all grades (K-12). Services vary by year and staff. ESL: English is the language of instruction, and ESL support is available, especially for younger students.

Kenya.

Christian.

RVA operates on a trimester schedule, beginning in August and ending in July. Each term lasts about twelve weeks, followed by a one-month break.

Application fees and enrollment deposit

- Application processing fee (non-refundable): USD 50.
- Note: some publicly posted fee lists for 2025/26 show an application processing fee of USD 75 on alternate listings.
- Enrollment deposit (credited toward school fees; paid after provisional acceptance): USD 500. This enrollment deposit must be received within 30 days of provisional acceptance and is credited toward school fees on entry.

Tuition and boarding fees (charged per term)

- Fees are charged per term. RVA operates three terms per academic year (school year begins in August; three terms of ~12 weeks each). Multiply the per-term figures by three for an annual total.

- Kindergarten: KES 123,000 per term (KES 369,000 estimated per year). These figures are published as per-term amounts that include tuition, room, boarding and capital development where applicable.

- Grades 1–3: KES 185,100 per term (KES 555,300 estimated per year). These per-term figures are listed as covering tuition plus boarding/room where applicable.

- Grades 4–6: KES 335,100 per term (KES 1,005,300 estimated per year). The published per-term figure is shown as inclusive of tuition, boarding/room, and capital development charges.

- Grades 7–10: KES 346,750 per term (KES 1,040,250 estimated per year). These published term amounts are indicated as inclusive of room and boarding for boarders.

- Grades 11–12: KES 353,700 per term (KES 1,061,100 estimated per year). The per-term rate is published as covering tuition and boarding components where applicable.

Boarding fees

- Boarding is charged as part of the per-term tuition/boarding figures above; separate line-item boarding fees are not listed in the publicly posted per-term schedule. Boarding is therefore included in the per-term amounts for students who live in dorms.

Billing schedule and payment terms

- Fees are invoiced on a per-term basis; the school year begins in August and is divided into three terms. Parents are required to submit the enrollment deposit within 30 days of provisional acceptance; that deposit is credited toward the student's fees on entry. The application processing fee is non-refundable.

Other costs and typical additional charges

- Class dues: Grades 7–8: KES 1,000 (per published listings). Grades 9–12: KES 3,000 (per published listings).
- Travel fee (routine/scheduled travel charges): KES 2,500 (per published listings).
- Environmental fee / small statutory charge: KES 350 (per published listings).
- Uniforms, textbooks, personal items, medical expenses and incidental activity costs (cocurricular trips, special camps, optional activities) are additional to the per-term amounts; published public fee schedules do not list a single all-inclusive uniform or textbook line item with fixed amounts. Specific costs for uniforms, bookpacks, medical insurance or camp trips are charged separately or billed as required.

Refund information

- The application processing fee is non-refundable. The enrollment deposit is credited toward school fees upon entrance; some published application/enrollment forms indicate the enrollment deposit is non-refundable if parents cancel after provisional acceptance. No publicly posted comprehensive tuition refund schedule for mid-term withdrawal or prorated refunds was found in publicly available fee listings.

Fee payment options and currencies

- Public admissions materials indicate application items and fees may be submitted in USD or Kenyan Shilling equivalents and that the Admissions Office provides payment instructions; an application form references payment in USD with KES equivalents. The school's admissions office arranges specific payment methods (bank transfer / wire or other options) on request. Specific, published online details naming accepted card processors or a live credit-card payment gateway are not shown in the public fee listings consulted.

Brief note about how these figures were assembled and gaps in public detail

- RVA's public admissions pages describe the timing and mechanics of application, provisional acceptance and the enrollment deposit but do not publish a full official 2026/27 fee schedule on the publicly browsable pages. The per-term amounts and one-time fees above are taken from publicly posted 2025 fee listings and admissions documents that are cited above; a small number of public listings differ on the stated application processing fee (USD 50 versus USD 75). Where an amount is given above it reflects the figures shown on the cited 2025/2026 public fee listings; annual totals are shown as the per-term figure multiplied by three terms (RVA operates three terms per year).

We serve about 500 students representing 30 nationalities. Kenyan nationals and expatriate students are included in the student body.