Education CS Machogu orders HELB to open funding portal for students to apply

Education Cabinet Secretary Ezekiel Machogu has ordered the Higher Education Loans Board (HELB) and the Universities Fund (UF) to open the funding portal on June 15, 2024 to allow eligible students make their applications.

This follows President William Ruto's May introduction of a new funding model for university and TVET students in Kenya, following nationwide consultations conducted by the Presidential Working Party on Education Reforms.

Under the student-centered funding model, the placement process of first year students to universities was delinked from funding.

On this basis, the Kenya Universities and Colleges Central Placement Service (KUCCPS) published the full fees structure of each of the courses declared in universities, alongside the cluster requirements of the degree programmes on its portal.

“I direct the Higher Education Loans Board (HELB) and the Universities Fund (UF) to open the Higher Education Funding portal on June 15, 2024 to allow the eligible students to apply for funding,” said Machogu.

"I wish to notify all parents, guardians and students that results of the funding application process will be released from July 31, 2024. All first year students will report to their respective universities based on their admission letters and joining instructions as advised."

He added: "Upon results of the funding applications being released, universities shall notify all their respective first year students of the amount to be paid by parents/guardians (household). Universities and funding agencies should immediately embark on sensitisation of students, parents and stakeholders on the Student-Centred Funding Model."

Implemented for first-year students who joined universities and TVETs in September 2023, the model has seen significant engagement from students.

According to Machogu, as at May 2024, a total of 112,741 university students and 151,933 TVET learners applied for scholarships and loans from the Universities Fund and HELB respectively.

"A total of Ksh24.76 billion was disbursed to scholarships and loans for universities students, while Ksh11.3 billion went to TVET trainees," he said.  

"For the first time since the government adopted the cost sharing policy in higher education, 100 percent of the 2023 Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) examination applicants received financial support to pursue their programme of choice in our universities and TVET institutions."

With the second cohort of students joining universities set to receive financial support under the student-centred funding model, Machogu likewise clarified the funding process noting that each degree programme will be funded through three components: scholarships, loans, and parents/guardians (household) contribution, with the allocation for each component based on the assessed level of need of each applicant.

"Based on the placement results, some universities have released letters of admission and fees structures for the courses as displayed in the KUCCPS portal during the application process. The government has since noted that some parents/guardians (households) have had a perception that they will be required to pay the full fees as contained in the admission letters issued by individual Universities," he said.

"The government further clarifies that the parents/guardians (household) contribution for each student will only be known after the student has applied for funding and assessment based on the level of need is completed. This will thereafter determine the amount of scholarship and loan that they require."