Over 379,000 to miss Helb over Sh32bn funding deficit

Higher Education Principal Secretary Beatrice Inyangala appearing before National Assembly Committee on Education, March 18, 2026./HANDOUT

Funding for 379,858 university and TVET students through the Higher Education Loans Board (Helb) hangs in the balance due to a Sh32.9 billion deficit in the current education calendar.

The State Department for Higher Education says Helb was allocated Sh41.5 billion for the 2025–26 financial year against a requirement of Sh74.4 billion to support 1,104,157 university and TVET students.

Appearing before the National Assembly Committee on Education on Tuesday, Higher Education Principal Secretary Beatrice Inyangala said the allocated amount can only support 650,267 students, leaving 453,889 eligible applicants without support.

“The proposed supplementary budget allocation of Sh4.1 billion will support 74,031 students at an average of Sh55,639 per student. This will leave 379,858 students not funded,” Inyangala told the committee chaired by Tinderet MP Julius Melly.

She added that Helb has outstanding arrears of Sh10.7 billion for the 2024–25 financial year, affecting 270,122 students who were not funded.

“In view of the above, we request an additional Sh43.6 billion to enable Helb to fully meet its student loan obligations for the current financial year. This intervention will ensure that no deserving student is denied access to higher education due to financial constraints,” the PS said.

Data from the ministry shows that 575,663 university students applied for loans in the 2025–26 financial year, but only 358,832 applications were approved, leaving 216,831 students locked out.

Out of 528,493 TVET applicants, 291,435 received funding, while 237,058 learners missed out.

To fully fund all university students, Helb requires Sh55.1 billion, but only Sh30.9 billion was allocated, leaving a deficit of Sh24.1 billion.

Full funding for all TVET students requires Sh19.2 billion, but only Sh10.5 billion was allocated, resulting in a deficit of Sh8.7 billion.

In the 2024–25 financial year, a total of 879,206 university and TVET students applied for loans, with a funding requirement of Sh48.4 billion.

However, only Sh37.7 billion was allocated, leaving 270,122 students without financial support.

Inyangala told MPs that the funding gaps have driven pending bills in public universities to about Sh100 billion, warning that the institutions risk closure in the absence of immediate interventions.

“This is very serious because every year, we get an additional number of students who are even more than the previous year.”

Melly challenged universities to innovate and raise own revenue to help cut the ever rising pending bills.

"The universities are not making any efforts to reduce the historical pending bills so the pending bills are increasing exponentially as if there's no coin you have given to the universities," he said.

“This year we have challenged them to raise even more money but, at the same time, if we are not able to appropriate all the amount due for scholarships and loans, they will not be able to come out of this pending bills situation," Inyangala said.