University students are set to heave a huge sigh of relief after Education Cabinet Secretary Julius Ogamba directed the Higher Education Loan Board (HELB) to extend the application deadline to Sunday, September 14.
In the new directive, students are set to have an additional two weeks to submit their applications, as it was extended from the previous deadline of Sunday, August 31.
The directive is set to directly benefit 802,159 students across University and Technical and Vocational Education Training (TVET) institutions countrywide.
Ogamba’s directive, on Friday, August 29, was directly linked to the disbursement of Ksh23.1 billion for tuition and upkeep fees for university and TVET students.
“We are pleased to notify parents, guardians, university and TVET students that the Universities Fund and the Higher Education Loans Board have, as of today, disbursed a total of Ksh23.16 billion in financial support to 802,159 University and TVET students across the country,” Ogamba stated.
“To ensure that no student is left behind, the Universities Fund and the Higher Education Loans Board have been instructed to extend the deadline for first-year applicants to 14th September, 2025,” he added.
Of the monies, the Universities Fund accounted for Ksh4.1 billion as scholarship support for students in public universities.
HELB accounted for Ksh19.06 billion, comprising Ksh7.6 billion for tuition and Ksh11.46 billion for student upkeep.
Further, the CS urged students who had applied to check their HELB portals to confirm their disbursement status.
The latest disbursement follows the Ksh9.6 billion disbursement by HELB close to two weeks ago, where approximately 309,178 students received loans.
As of August 18, applications for both first-time and continuing loans for universities and Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) institutes had hit 961,023.
Typically, first-time students apply for the loan by visiting the HELB official website, www.hef.co.ke, while continuing students can use the HELB mobile app or dial *642#.
