Universities Fund CEO Dr Edwin Wanyonyi speaking during the ISO recertification of the Fund by KEBS and release of 2026-27 scholarship application data, August 21, 2026. /KEBSMore than 5,000 first-year university students are yet to complete their applications for government scholarships and loans as the August 31 deadline approaches.
The Universities Fund said 159,551 students had completed their funding applications through the Higher Education Financing (HEF) Portal as of August 20, out of 202,133 students placed in public universities for the 2026/2027 academic year.
A further 5,732 applications were still ongoing or incomplete, placing the students at risk of missing out on financial support as they prepare for the start of their higher education journey.
The completed applications include 149,761 scholarship-and-loan combination applications, 642 scholarship-only applications and 9,148 loan-only applications.
“We, therefore, wish to encourage the affected students to complete the application process by 31st August 2026,” Universities Fund chief executive officer Dr Edwin Wanyonyi said.
The figures were released on Friday as the Fund received ISO recertification from the Kenya Bureau of Standards (KEBS).
KEBS MD Esther Ngari joins Universities Fund Board and staff led by CEO Dr Edwin Wanyonyi in celebrating the Fund's successful ISO 9001:2015 Quality Management System Recertification, August 21, 2026. /KEBSWanyonyi took pride in the recertification, saying it underscored the credibility of the Fund's processes and reliable systems used in processing student funding.
"For us, ISO certification is fundamentally about trust. It is about assuring students that their applications and funding are handled through transparent and reliable systems. It is about assuring universities that funding processes are governed by clear procedures and accountability mechanisms."
KEBS managing director Esther Ngari said the milestone reaffirms the Fund's commitment to quality, accountability, continuous improvement and excellence in service delivery.
She said KEBS is proud to support organisations that embrace international standards as a pathway to enhanced performance, operational excellence and lasting impact.
"As the institution mandated to provide sustainable financing for higher education, the Universities Fund continues to demonstrate the importance of robust systems in supporting equitable access to education, stakeholder confidence and effective implementation of transformative initiatives such as the Student-Centred Funding Model," Ngari said.
KEBS MD Esther Ngari speaks during issuance of ISO 9001:2015 Quality Management System Recertification to Universities Fund, August 21, 2026. /KEBSThe Fund is projecting approximately 608,879 scholarship beneficiaries in the 2026/2027 financial year, up from 408,879 in 2025/2026.
Wanyonyi said the number of beneficiaries rose from 118,153 in 2023/2024 to 253,042 in 2024/2025 before hitting 408,879 in 2025/2026.
Government scholarships through the Fund have totalled about Sh47.9 billion over the three financial years to 2025/2026.
"In 2026/2027 financial year, government scholarships amount to Sh30.1 billion, bringing the total to Sh78 billion," Wanyonyi said.
He added that at the beginning of August 2026, the Fund had disbursed the first allocation of Sh2.5 billion to universities.
The amount is in addition to a further Sh974 million disbursed to private universities in the 2026/2027 financial year under the Differentiated Unit Cost framework.
"These numbers tell a powerful story," Wanyonyi said, emphasising the impact the financial support have especially on learners from low-income households.
"When we process a scholarship application, we are not simply processing data. We are processing someone's future. When we disburse funding to a university, we are not simply transferring money. We are helping to keep a student in a classroom, a lecturer in a laboratory and a university functioning."
Wanyonyi said the Fund was also using digital systems to improve the processing and tracking of student funding to ensure no child who has worked hard to qualify for university admission misses the support they deserve.
"Our systems must therefore be equal to the dreams of our young people," he said.
The Fund's Institutional Portal, launched in October 2025, provides a centralised mechanism for exchanging data between universities and the Fund, including real-time tracking of disbursements and allocations.
The Universities Fund said the ISO recertification reflected its commitment to quality, continuous improvement, accountability and reliable systems in delivering higher education financing.
