More Than 63,000 University Students To Miss HELB Loans

63,000 university students have missed out on the Higher Education Loans Boards, HELB, Loans. This means that almost half of the students selected to join university this September under government sponsorships will miss out on student loans.

According to the Chief Executive of the Loans Board Charles Ringera, on Wednesday said the beneficiaries will get about 37,000 shillings, a downward revision from the previous allocations of 45,000 shillings.

The change in numbers of those who shall be awarded the HELB loan as well as the reduction in the amount allocated to those who awarded the loan is due to the reduced amount of the budgetary allocation.

“Remember our budget allocation was cut by Sh1 billion this year, from Sh16.8 billion in the previous year to Sh15.8 billion and this has affected the provision of loans,” Ringera said

On 6^th September, HELB Chief Executive Officer, Charles Ringera, indicated that the loan would be slashed to 38,000 shillings, down from the previous amount of 45,000 shillings that each student was eligible to.

In an interview, Ringera noted that the move was to ensure that as many students as possible benefit from the fund.

The HELB executive also noted that all first-year students joining universities beginning Monday, September 6, would begin receiving their funds in October.

“We don’t know how many students will apply, so we can’t start processing the money now. That can end up leaving out orphans and other deserving causes,” he said.

In 2020 KCSE, 142,540 candidates qualified for university admission but only 128,073 students were placed to pursue degree courses under state sponsorship.

Only 75,000 students are set to benefit from the loans with a budget of 3.2 shillings billion sets for this function by the Higher Education Loans Board.

The board often disburses 70,000 shillings for students as capitation fees and pays Ksh16,000 directly to the universities as tuition fees.

The students are then expected to foot the rest of the school fees from the 38,000 shillings they receive in their bank accounts every year.

Read More: HELB waives Ksh 1000 Compliance Certificate Fee For Non-beneficiaries