The Higher Education Loans Board (HELB) has eased the concerns of applicants who have been receiving an error message during their application process ahead of the September start of university and college for the 2024 KCSE candidates.
In a notice issued on July 7, the board revealed that some candidates have been receiving error messages claiming that their national identification has been activated on another device.
To tackle this issue, HELB urged them to reach out to its support team, either through its official contacts or by sending a direct message on its social media pages.
"Seeing an error on the HELB App that your National ID is already activated on another device? Don’t worry! Just send us a direct message with your registered phone number and National ID, and we’ll assist you in getting it resolved quickly," HELB stated.
This comes just a day after the portal came back up after 72 hours of planned maintenance that kicked off last week.
On Thursday, July 3, just a day after the portal was open for both first-time and subsequent applicants, the board announced the three-day downtime.
"The Higher Education Financing Portal is under maintenance to improve service. Downtime will last at least 72 hours," HELB said in a statement.
The service update was expected to end on Monday, July 7, leaving many eager candidates who had just received their university and college placements in limbo.
It was announced after students from several renowned tertiary institutions across the country came forward to lament about their inability to access the portal.
"There’s been some serious head-scratching among students applying for HELB loans —both first-time and continuing applicants," one such student lamented on a public WhatsApp group.
The students who will be heading for their first year in institutions of higher education can, however, finally apply for the 2025/2026 academic year loans and scholarships.
Students attending Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) institutions and those heading to the Kenya Medical Training College (KMTC) are also eligible to apply.
