President William Ruto says changes to how university education is funded are in the pipeline, as the government works to make good on its promise to fully fund every student who qualifies for higher education.
The announcement comes even as students continue to apply for university, TVET and college funding under the current system, which requires them to apply separately for loans and scholarships.
The funding agencies overseeing that process are still waiting on Parliament to pass the legislation needed to bring the new model into effect.
The timing is notable. It comes just days after KUCCPS opened a window for students to revise their course choices, a process that some applicants say has been dogged by technical glitches, leaving them unable to make changes even now.
Course transfer applications, and the funding that comes with them, are still being processed despite the hitches. For now, though, students remain stuck navigating the old system.
That’s not what Ruto had promised. He had committed to overhauling higher education funding altogether, starting with the 2026 intake, so that the government foots the bill in full for every student who qualifies. He insists that promise still stands.
“It is my commitment that every one of you who qualifies to go to a TVET or a university will pursue the course of your choice without the background of your parents influencing which course you will take,” Ruto said. “It will not depend on whether your parents have the means. It will depend on your capacity.”
Making that a reality, however, hinges on Parliament passing the Tertiary Placement and Funding Bill, 2026.
The bill proposes folding existing funding bodies, including the Higher Education Loans Board (HELB) and the Universities Fund, into a single new authority, the Tertiary Education Funding Authority (TEFA), which would take over all higher education financing.
Ruto pushed lawmakers to move quickly on the reforms, calling them central to achieving universal access to tertiary education.
“As I talk to you, in Parliament we have amendments to the Higher Education Loans Board programme that will now make it possible, and I said it before, and I will repeat, it will make it possible for every student in TVETs and universities to get full funding for their courses,” he said.
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