Four gunmen stormed the campus, taking students hostage in dormitories and killing them.
The government says the security forces responded swiftly, and saved the lives of many other students.
The security forces also came under heavy criticism at the protest in Nairobi, organised by students from the city's main university.
Protesters said they were no longer prepared to be "at the mercy of al-Shabab" and demanded that the government tighten security at universities and schools across Kenya.
A candle-lit vigil is due to be held later in the capital to end three days of national mourning.
Garissa university campus
1. Militants enter the university grounds, two guards are shot dead
2. Shooting begins within the campus
3. Students attacked in their classrooms while preparing for exams
4. Gunmen believed isolated in the female dormitories
5. Some students make an escape through the fence