HELB To Begin Disbursing Loans For First-Year University Students On August 15

The Higher Education Loans Board (HELB) will start sending out loans to first-year university students from August 15, 2025, the Ministry of Education has announced.

Education Cabinet Secretary Julius Migos Ogamba, in a statement on Thursday, said the government has enabled both HELB and the Universities Fund to release money for scholarships and loans to support students joining higher education institutions.

“These funds will be released in phases to allow a smooth start for university and TVET college students, helping them settle without disruption,” Ogamba said.

The CS added that the Universities Fund had already begun distributing first-quarter scholarship funds to public universities for the 2025/2026 financial year.

According to the Ministry, a total of 129,403 university students and 60,976 TVET trainees from the 2024 KCSE class have already applied for support under the Student-Centred Funding Model (SCFM). The application deadline is August 31.

Overall, HELB and the Universities Fund are targeting to support 201,695 first-year university students, more than 237,000 TVET trainees, and 257,523 continuing students in 2025.

To support this effort, the government has increased HELB’s annual budget by Sh5 billion—raising it from Sh36 billion to Sh41 billion. Of this, Sh13 billion has already been released for tuition and upkeep, while Sh16.9 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 lack of funds,” Ogamba affirmed.