The Higher Education Loans Board (HELB) has shut down its services for at least 72 hours shortly after opening the portal for the 2025/2026 academic year loan and scholarship applications.
The board announced the downtime in a statement on Thursday, July 3, revealing that the Higher Education Financing Portal was undergoing maintenance.
"The Higher Education Financing Portal is under maintenance to improve service. Downtime will last at least 72 hours," HELB said in a statement.
According to HELB, the unexpected downtime will affect both first-time applicants and those submitting subsequent applications as the portal undergoes maintenance to improve service delivery.
Following the service disruption, students are now expected to be unable to access the portal to apply for loans until Monday, July 7.
Before HELB's announcements, students from several renowned tertiary institutions across the country had come forward to lament about their inability to access the portal, despite applications for the 2025/2026 academic year loans and scholarships for undergraduate and TVET students being opened on Wednesday, July 2.
"There’s been some serious head-scratching among students applying for HELB loans —both first-time and continuing applicants," one statement from students in a public WhatsApp group read.
Observers also noted that the previous posts by HELB, urging eligible students to apply for loans, had been wiped out on social media.
In its public notice published on Wednesday, HELB had initially urged all eligible students to apply early to avoid last-minute inconveniences and ensure seamless processing ahead of the September intake. The deadline for applications is August 31, 2025.
Applications for Undergraduate & TVET Loans & Scholarships were expected to be applied for via www.hef.co.ke for first-time applicants, while continuing students were instructed to dial *642# or use HELB-App to access the loans.
While it remains unclear why HELB shut down its portal just hours after re-opening it, it is likely the move was prompted by an overwhelming number of applicants who can potentially overwhelm the portal.
A similar incident was witnessed on June 30, when the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) portal experienced downtimes as thousands of Kenyans rushed to file their tax returns at the last minute.
Amid the downtime, the KRA ultimately extended the deadline for filing to July 5 while also announcing a penalty and interest accrued waiver for all taxpayers, provided they file their 2024 tax returns by the new deadline.
