The Higher Education Loans Board (HELB) has released a step-by-step guide that will enable undergraduate students and TVET students seeking financial aid to apply for student loans using their mobile phones.
According to the guide, which was released on Monday, July 28, the student will first be required to download the HELB app on a mobile phone and register using a Safaricom line, which will then generate an activation code.
Secondly, the student will then create a 4-digit PIN, which they will use to log in, and then they will proceed to confirm their personal and institutional details.
Once inside the app, the student will then be required to click on the "Apply subsequent products" tab, which will then lead them to the "Get started" tab.
After this, one will then click on the loan application option and, before proceeding, read and understand the loan terms and conditions.
The app will then display a financial literacy question, which the students must answer and proceed. After this step, the student will then select the required loan payment option and then verify.
After the verification, one will then be required to click on the request loan tab, review the loan details, and then hit the submit tab.
Lastly, HELB will then send a loan serial number, both on the app and via SMS, which will confirm that the loan application is successful.
"Applying for your Subsequent Loan via the HELB App is simple. We have created this step-by-step guide to make it even simpler. Apply now," HELB said.
The announcement comes weeks after the board, on July 2, 2025, opened applications for the 2025/2026 academic year loans and scholarships for both undergraduate and TVET students. The loan application deadline has been set for August 31.
According to HELB, first-time applicants can use the Higher Education Financing (HEF) portal to apply for the loans, while continuing students can use the HELB mobile app or USSD code *642#.
''We have now opened the portal. The 2025-2026 First Time and Subsequent Applications for Undergraduate & TVET Loans & Scholarships are now open. Apply via www.hef.co.ke for first-time applicants or dial *642# or HELB-App for continuing students,'' HELB said.
