The Universities Fund has warned that university scholarships will cost about Sh47 billion in the 2026/2027 financial year, against an allocation of Sh30.1 billion. It says thousands of students could miss out on financial help as demand for support grows.
The Fund's Acting Chief Executive Officer, Dr Edwin Wanyonyi, gave the figures on Wednesday. He urged scholarship providers to coordinate their support so that money reaches more students.
Wanyonyi was speaking at a stakeholders' meeting organised by the Universities Fund under the theme "Reaching More Students, Together". The meeting discussed how to coordinate student financial support and identify students who still miss out.
Wanyonyi said the main challenge is not only raising money but making sure the available funds reach the students who need them most. He said some students receive support from several organisations, while others struggle to pay fees or get no help at all.
"Our biggest challenge isn't mobilising resources; it is creating impact with the resources we already have," he said. "There are students who are overfunded, and yet we have students who are underfunded and others not funded at all."
He called on the government, corporate foundations, non-governmental organisations and private sponsors to work together to widen access to university education.
Wanyonyi said some students the Fund supports are also supported by the organisations at the meeting. "Some of the students we are funding are also being funded by your organisations. How do we collaborate?" he asked.
Under the Student-Centred Funding Model, the Universities Fund expects about 608,879 students to benefit from scholarships in 2026/2027.
Wanyonyi said providers could combine their resources and use their different strengths to help more students who qualify for university. "Every Kenyan student who qualifies for university deserves the opportunity to pursue higher education. By working together and improving coordination among scholarship providers, we can ensure that available resources reach more students and have a greater impact," he said.
Stakeholders at the meeting proposed a shared, secure data system to help scholarship providers see which students already get assistance, identify those with unmet needs and reduce duplication of awards.
The system would build on the Fund's role as custodian of student funding data. It would include safeguards to protect students' personal information in line with the Data Protection Act, 2019.
They also discussed joint campaigns to inform students about funding opportunities, as well as information sharing, resource mobilisation and strategic partnerships to widen scholarship coverage.
The discussions are expected to guide a framework for continued cooperation among scholarship and bursary providers.
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