HELB deficit locks out 160,000 from funding

Higher Education Loans Board  Geoffrey Monari before the Senate’s Education Committee at Bunge Towers in Nairobi on March 20th, 2025. [Elvis Ogina, Standard]

More than half a million of university and Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) students eligible for funding by the Higher Education Loans Board (HELB) in the 2024/25 financial year did not receive any money due to a budget shortfall.

HELB Chief Executive Officer Geoffrey Monari told the National Assembly Committee on Education that some 713,173 students applied for financial assistance during the period, with a total funding requirement of Sh48.18 billion.