- HELB and the Universities Fund have begun processing and communicating 2026/2027 funding allocations, with universities updating student fee statements.
- HELB has confirmed an overall Sh56.7 billion funding envelope against a reported Sh114 billion requirement, leaving a Sh57 billion funding gap.
- The Universities Fund has projected approximately 608,879 scholarship beneficiaries for 2026/2027, with 202,133 students placed in public universities and 159,551 having completed funding applications by August 20.
Thousands of university students are beginning to see how government financial support will affect their 2026/2027 university bills, as the Higher Education Loans Board (HELB) and Universities Fund process and communicate funding awards.
Universities have started updating student fee accounts with information arising from the government funding process, allowing students to establish the support allocated to them, their household contribution and any balance they may still be required to pay.
The Technical University of Kenya (TUK), in a notice dated September 9, said HELB had completed allocations for students who submitted their funding applications by September 3, 2026. The university said revised fee statements would be accessible through student portals by close of business on September 10.
Students can log into their university portals and access the fees or finance section to view or download their latest statements. However, the updating of accounts is expected to continue progressively as institutions process allocation information, meaning a student whose statement has not changed may need to check again later.
The latest figures show that HELB has an overall Sh56.7 billion funding allocation for 2026/2027, against a reported requirement of about Sh114 billion, leaving a funding gap of approximately Sh57 billion. HELB Chief Executive Officer Geoffrey Monari said the Board was projecting disbursement at about 65 per cent of its requirement.
The Sh56.7 billion should not be interpreted as money that will be divided equally among students. Under the Student-Centred Funding Model, student financing combines scholarships, loans and household contributions on a graduated scale determined by assessed financial need, with the amount awarded depending on the student’s level of need and the cost of the programme.
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The Universities Fund separately administers government scholarships for eligible students in public universities, while HELB provides loans and bursaries to students in universities and TVET institutions. For 2026/2027, government scholarships administered through the Universities Fund amount to Sh30.1 billion, while the Fund projects approximately 608,879 scholarship beneficiaries during the financial year. That projected figure is for the financial year as a whole and should not be confused with the number of students whose 2026/2027 allocations had already been processed by September.
A total of 202,133 students were placed in public universities for the 2026/2027 academic year. By August 20, 159,551 students had completed their funding applications through the HEF Portal, of whom 150,403 applications included a Universities Fund scholarship. The scholarship applications comprised 149,761 scholarship-and-loan combinations and 642 scholarship-only applications, while another 9,148 students applied for loans only, and a further 5,732 applications remained ongoing or incomplete at the time of the Universities Fund’s report. The figures demonstrate the scale of demand for government assistance, but they do not amount to a final university-by-university list of beneficiaries.
The publicly available data currently provides placement figures rather than confirmed HELB or Universities Fund beneficiary numbers for each institution. Among the largest 2026/2027 first-year public-university placements are Kenyatta University with 11,224 students, Maseno University with 9,196, Moi University with 8,869, the University of Nairobi with 8,604, Chuka University with 7,946, Kisii University with 7,903, Masinde Muliro University of Science and Technology with 7,586, Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology with 7,114, University of Eldoret with 6,671, Tharaka University with 6,336, University of Kabianga with 5,044, Kirinyaga University with 4,784, Rongo University with 4,377, Kibabii University with 3,535 and Maasai Mara University with 3,230.
These are KUCCPS placement figures, not the number of students who have actually received HELB loans or Universities Fund scholarships, since not every placed student necessarily completes an application or receives the same funding package.
Universities Fund records show that the number of public-university students receiving government scholarships rose from 118,153 in 2023/2024 to 253,042 in 2024/2025 and 408,879 in 2025/2026. The Fund now projects approximately 608,879 beneficiaries in 2026/2027. Over the three financial years from 2023/2024 to 2025/2026, the Fund says approximately Sh47.9 billion was disbursed in scholarships to public-university students.
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For 2026/2027, government scholarships amount to Sh30.1 billion, taking cumulative scholarship funding to about Sh78 billion over the four years. The Fund also reports that it had already disbursed Sh2.5 billion as an initial allocation to universities at the beginning of August, while Sh974 million had been disbursed to private universities during the current financial year under the Differentiated Unit Cost framework.
The release of allocation information now shifts attention from national funding figures to individual student accounts. Students are advised to check their university fee statements to determine the actual amount of government support attached to their accounts, the household contribution and any outstanding balance. The official HEF system makes clear that funding is not a flat payment to every student, with scholarships, loans and household contributions combined according to assessed financial need and programme cost. The HELB student portal also allows registered students to check their loan application, allocation and disbursement status.
By Hillary Muhalya
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