Universities Fund faces Ksh.16 billion gap amid soaring student numbers

According to the fund, scholarship requirements for the current financial year are estimated at Ksh.47 billion, against an allocation of Ksh.30.1 billion.

Acting Chief Executive Officer Dr Edwin Wanyonyi said better coordination among scholarship and bursary providers was needed to ensure available resources reach more students who need financial assistance.

“Our biggest challenge isn’t mobilizing resources; it is creating impact with the resources we already have,” Wanyonyi said. “There are students who are overfunded, and yet we have students who are underfunded and others not funded at all.

Speaking during a meeting with scholarship and bursary providers in Nairobi on Wednesday, October 28, Wanyonyi called for collaboration between the government, corporate foundations, non-governmental organisations and private sponsors to improve access to university education.

He noted that some students receive financial support from multiple organisations while others struggle to meet the cost of their education.

“Some of the students we are funding are also being funded by your organisations. How do we collaborate?” he asked.

The meeting, convened by the Universities Fund under the theme Reaching More Students, Together, brought together scholarship providers and other stakeholders to discuss ways of coordinating financial support and identifying students who remain underserved.

Under the Student-Centred Funding Model, the Fund projects approximately 608,879 scholarship beneficiaries in the 2026/2027 financial year.

Wanyonyi said scholarship providers could draw on their different strengths to ensure more deserving students access higher education.

“Every Kenyan student who qualifies for university deserves the opportunity to pursue higher education. By working together and improving coordination among scholarship providers, we can ensure that available resources reach more students and have a greater impact,” he said.

Stakeholders called for the establishment of a shared, secure data system to help providers determine which students are receiving assistance, identify unmet financial needs and minimise duplication of awards.

The proposed system would build on the Universities Fund's role as a custodian of student funding data, with safeguards to protect students' personal information in line with the Data Protection Act, 2019.

The meeting also explored joint student sensitisation initiatives, information sharing, resource mobilisation and strategic partnerships to expand scholarship coverage.

The discussions are expected to inform the development of a framework for continued collaboration among scholarship and bursary providers.