By Gladys Getunde
The Ministry of Education has announced a boost in funding for higher education that will benefit over 696,000 students across the country in the 2025/2026 academic year.
This expansion of financial support underscores the government’s commitment to equitable access to university and Technical Vocational Education and Trainin (TVET) education under the Student-Centered Funding Model (SCFM).
The Cabinet Secretary for Education, Julius Migos Ogamba, confirmed that disbursement of Higher Education Loans Board (HELB) loans for first-year university students will begin on 15th August 2025.
Meanwhile, the Universities Fund has already started releasing first-quarter scholarship allocations to public universities.
Applications for funding remain open until 31st August 2025 for students placed by the Kenya Universities and Colleges Central Placement Service (KUCCPS) from the 2024 KCSE cohort.
So far, 129,403 university students and 60,976 TVET trainees have successfully submitted their funding applications. In total, the SCFM will support 201,695 first-year university students, over 237,000 TVET trainees, and 257,523 continuing students.
These figures reflect the scale and reach of the government’s investment in higher education, according to a statement signed by Ogamba.
To meet this growing demand, the government has increased HELB’s annual budget from KSh.36 billion to KSh.41 billion—a KSh.5 billion rise.
Of this, KSh.13 billion has already been disbursed to students for tuition and upkeep, while KSh.16.9 billion has been allocated to the Universities Fund for scholarships.
“The Ministry remains committed to ensuring that no eligible student is left behind due to financial constraints,” said Ogamba.
He emphasized that the phased release of funds is designed to ensure students transition smoothly into university and TVET institutions.
“We want every deserving learner to begin their academic journey without interruption,” he added.
