Kenya's university education faces a dilemma of increased demand for places against declining funding and increased graduate unemployment. The introduction of cost sharing, in an environment of increased poverty levels and inadequate educational loans and bursaries, has further aggravated matters. This article presents findings of a case study on 50 university students involved in small business ventures in an attempt to cope with their financial situations. The study sought to find out the characteristics of student entrepreneurs, reasons for entry into business and how they coped with studies while operating businesses. The study shows that most of the respondents came from humble backgrounds and ran business mainly for survival. These results have useful implications on the effects of Structural Adjustment Programmes in financing university education in Kenya and elsewhere in Africa.