Loan delays and inadequate disbursements are pushing deserving young Kenyans out of university
By Jackline Kamathi
Kenya’s Higher Education Loans Board is failing the students it was created to serve. Across universities nationwide, young Kenyans are missing examinations, deferring registration, and dropping out — not because they lack ability, but because government financial support arrives late, falls short, or both.
The problem is structural. HELB disbursements routinely fail to cover tuition, accommodation, food, transport, and learning materials. For students from low-income households — those with no alternative safety net — an underfunded or delayed loan is not an inconvenience. It is the difference between continuing and quitting.
The funding allocation process compounds the problem. Many students feel the amounts awarded bear little relation to their actual financial circumstances. The appeals mechanism, where one exists at all, is slow, opaque, and inaccessible to those who most need it.
The remedies are not complicated. HELB should disburse funds before the academic term begins, not during it. Allocation criteria must reflect genuine household circumstances, not bureaucratic approximations. Appeals must be resolved within defined timescales, with clear written explanations. Universities, HELB, and the relevant ministries should build a single, transparent tracking system through which students can monitor applications and lodge complaints without navigating multiple offices.
Education policy is only as good as its implementation. Kenya cannot claim to invest in its youth while allowing a broken disbursement system to push deserving students off campus. Fix HELB — or concede that the promise of equal opportunity is hollow.
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