Senators have urged the government to reopen the Higher Education Loans Board (HELB) application portal, arguing that its closure on September 14 unfairly locked out many students who were eligible for funding.
They said the decision came at a critical time when several applicants had only just received their National Identification cards.
In the Senate, Embu Senator Alexander Mundigi described the closure as poorly timed and demanded clarity from the Standing Committee on Education on why the portal was shut at such a sensitive period. He called for an extension of at least two weeks to allow those who were left out to submit their applications.
“The Education Committee should give us a clear strategy to ensure the HELB application process is continuous, predictable, accessible and fair for all students in the future. System failures should not jeopardise our students’ education. We must ensure a reliable and equitable process for education financing,” Mundigi said.
The debate follows a government directive that had earlier extended the application deadline for first-year university and Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) learners to September 14, 2025.
Education Cabinet Secretary Julius Ogamba explained that the extension was meant to guarantee inclusivity and ensure no learner missed out. He further announced that the Universities Fund and HELB had disbursed Sh23.16 billion to support 802,159 university and TVET students across the country.
HELB Chief Executive Officer Geoffrey Monari reassured institutions and learners that the agency was financially stable and would meet its obligations.
“Currently, we don’t have any problem; as we go into the next semester, we will have gotten money through supplementary estimates to cater for any shortfall because now we know the number of students. We are on track,” Monari said.
HELB data shows that Sh26.1 billion has already been sent to universities and Sh7.9 billion to TVET trainees in the current academic cycle. Despite this, some students said delays in disbursements were disrupting their studies.
“Students are not allowed into class without a fee card. Starting this week, we go to register, but we’ve been told that without money, we won’t sit exams,” said a TVET student at P.C. Kinyanjui.
Another learner, Antony Okeyo from Egerton University, voiced his frustration, saying, “I applied for HELB in my first academic year; I didn’t receive the semester-one loan. The government scholarship has left my account with a balance of Sh233,000. With the portal closing, this will force me to be discontinued.”
In response, Monari dismissed fears of learners being locked out, saying universities had already received assurance of payment.
“We have given assurance to universities that money will be paid. Students should not be sent home or miss exams because HELB has not paid,” he said.
To strengthen fairness, HELB has scrapped the banding system that previously grouped applicants and has adopted a new model based on individual financial need and programme cost.
Monari also revealed that HELB was exploring the issuance of a social bond to raise more money for student funding.
He admitted repayment remained a major challenge, with only 67 per cent of past beneficiaries servicing their loans while 33 per cent had defaulted.
“People should come forward and start repaying their loans.
Last year we received Sh5 billion, which we used to support 499,000 university students and 114,000 TVET students,” he said.
As of August 18, HELB recorded 961,023 applications from both first-time and continuing students across universities and TVETs. Out of these, 309,178 university learners had already received Sh9.46 billion, with Sh5.76 billion allocated for tuition and Sh3.7 billion for upkeep.