Education CS Julius Ogamba
The Ministry of Education has increased the Higher Education Loans Board (HELB) allocation to Ksh41 billion for the 2025/2026 academic year, up from Ksh36 billion.
In a statement on Thursday, Education CS Julius Ogamba said the increased funding is aimed at ensuring no student is left behind.
The Education CS noted that Ksh13 billion has already been disbursed to support tuition and upkeep for students, and Ksh16 16.9 billion has been allocated to the Universities Fund for Scholarships.
“To ensure No Student is left behind, the Government has increased HELB’s annual funding from Ksh36 billion to Ksh41 billion, a significant boost of Ksh5 billion. Of this, Ksh13 billion has already been released to support tuition and upkeep for students, while Ksh16.9 billion has been allocated to the Universities Fund for Scholarships,” read the statement in part.
At the same time, Ogamba said the disbursement of HELB loans for first-year university students will begin on 15th August 2025, in line with the reopening of universities.
“These funds will be released in phases to ensure a smooth transition into the University/TVET College and to help students settle into their academic journey without interruption. In addition, the Universities Fund has begun disbursing first quarter scholarship funds for this FY 2025/2026 to all Public Universities,” said Ogamba.
Further, he said a total of 129,403 university students and 60,976 TVET trainees have successfully submitted their Scholarships and loan applications under the Student-Centred Funding Model [SCFM].
This academic year, under the SCFM HELB and the Universities Fund, is expected to support 201,695 first-year university students and over 237,000 TVET trainees in addition to 257,523 ongoing students.
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