The Ministry of Education has announced the disbursement of Ksh14.4 billion for scholarships and loans for university students.
In a statement on January 18, 2024, the Education Cabinet Secretary Ezekiel Machogu stated that the disbursement was part of the second tranche to cover loans for first year government-sponsored students.
“The Government has released Ksh14.4 billion as the second tranche to cover scholarships and loans for Government-sponsored First Year students in universities under the New Higher Education Funding Model,” the statement read in part.
According to Machogu, the loans will also cover semester two 2023/2024 Academic Year loans for continuing students.
Of the total amount, Ksh.10.39 billion will go towards loans under the Higher Education Loans Board (HELB).
“The remaining Ksh3.98 billion will be disbursed for scholarships through the Universities Fund (UF),” said Machogu.
The Ministry noted that the released funds bring to Ksh.23.6 billion the total amount released by the Government for loans and scholarships in the current academic year.
Loans under new model
In October last year, the Government disbursed Ksh.5.3 billion for student loans and a further Ksh3.9 billion for scholarships for first years under the New Funding Model.
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On the other hand, Ksh10.3 billion was released to HELB in September 2023 to cater for continuing students’ loans in Universities and WET colleges.
According to HELB, beneficiaries of the disbursed loans and scholarships are those who successfully made their applications through its portal, officially launched on the 31st of August 2023.
The ministry further noted that KSh.14.4 billion will be disbursed based on the applicant’s individual level of need under the New Funding Model.
“Under the model, the Universities Fund will disburse funds directly to individual universities for the successful candidates to cover their tuition fees,” the statement added.
On its part HELB will disburse tuition loans directly to respective universities/colleges and upkeep loan to the respective student bank accounts or mobile phone numbers.
Also Read: HELB Responds After Claims of Stopping All Student Loans
Universities on the other hand will receive the scholarship portions for their respective students by Friday, January 19th, 2024.
Also, the Ministry noted that the categorization of students receiving loans was realized through a reliable scientific method.
The method, Means Testing Instrument (MTI), was used to determine the student’s level of financial need, to ensure they are supported adequately.
Furthermore, the New Higher Education Funding Model applies to the students who sat for Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) from the year 2022 going forward.
The statement further read, “Candidates who sat the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education Examination in 2023 will form the second cohort of students to be subjected to the new funding model.”
