FIRST YEARS AND SUBSEQUENT HELB LOAN APPLICATION 2023/2024
DEADLINE
- Timeline for First Year’s HELB Loan Application 2023/2024.
- 140,000 students missed HELB Loan last academic year 2022/2023.
- Application of subsequent HELB Loan for continuing students.
- Payment of pending HELB Loan application.
- All students with C+ to get HELB Loan as a demand.
The HELB registration portal is open for the first years and subsequent loan applications. The
form is online via the registration portal www.helb.co.ke. Those willing to apply are advised to
fill out the form in the portal and submit the registration form before the deadline.
The Higher Education Loans Board (HELB) is a body created to provide help for students who
might be undergoing financial challenges and needs another form of assistance. The application
is free and for every student across the country. It is a statutory body established in July 1995 by
an Act of Parliament ‘The Higher Education Loans Board Act’. It is a state corporation in the
Ministry of Education. The Board is camped and operates within the Republic of Kenya. It is
governed by the Board of Directors and headed by the Chief Executive Officer and Board
Secretary who is responsible for general policy and strategic direction of the Board and the
Secretary to the Board of Directors.
Requirement for HELB Loan Application for the first time
When applying for HELB Loan, there are documents you must have at hand for one to qualify.
These requirements are;
A copy of the applicant’s National ID.
Copies of the parents’ ID cards/Death certificates where the parents are deceased
A copy of the applicant’s admission letter and KCSE result slip/certificate
Copies of both guarantors’ National ID
A copy of the applicants’ Bank ATM/Bank card (For government-sponsored students only)
A copy of the smart card from the institution
Application deadlines for subsequent HELB Loan applications 2023/2024
The deadline for HELB’s subsequent applications is as follows.
For degree students, the deadline is on the 31st of October 2023, and for TVET students it will be
on the 30th of November 2023. However, for anyone to qualify for subsequent, he/she must be a
Kenyan citizens, who have previously benefited from a HELB loan, and also he/she must be a current
undergraduate placed by the Kenya Universities and Colleges Placement Service (KUCCPS) in a
local public or private university or self-sponsored, parallel, or module II student pursuing a
bachelor’s degree or a TVET student.
The Helb Loan application 2023/2024 registration portal is open. THE HELB FILES
HELB Loan application 2023/2024 registration portal. Recruitment File
The awarded amount
The loan awarded to university undergraduate students ranges from a minimum of Sh40,000 to a
high of Sh60,000. For those placed by Kenya University and Colleges Central Placement Service
(KUCCPS), the loan amount is split to cater for both Tuition fees and Upkeep while for the Self-
sponsored students, the money is sent directly to the university once a year as tuition fees. A
standard amount of Ksh4,000 for Government sponsored students only is deducted from the loan
awarded and disbursed to the university per semester for tuition (total of Ksh8,000) and the rest
is sent to the applicant’s bank account as upkeep.
An Administrative Fee of Ksh500 per year is charged on the loan awarded and it is therefore
deducted from the disbursed loan. A limited number of needy government-sponsored students
receive a bursary of between Ksh4,000 and Ksh8,000 per year. The Bursary is paid to the
university.
TVET’s HELB Loans
Students pursuing Diploma and Certificate courses in Public universities, university colleges,
public national polytechnics, and Institutes of Technology and Technical Training institutes
country-wide are eligible for this loan and bursary. Orphans, single-parent students, and others
from poor backgrounds will be prioritized for the loans and or bursaries. The application period
is from January to April every year.
Required Documents for TVET
TWO copies of the duly filled Loan Application Form.
The TVET Loan Application Form is signed and stamped by the Dean of Students/Financial Aid
Officers.
One copy of the duly filled TLAF (Mandatory)
All students with C+ should get Helb funds
Education CS Ezekiel Machogu speaking to the press during his visit to Mukumu Girls High School. Image courtesy of Capital News.
Education CS Ezekiel Machogu speaking to the press during his visit to Mukumu Girls High
School on April 14, 2023. PHOTO COURTESY.MINISTRY OF EDUCATION
Another crisis has emerged with the Ministry of Education, planning to raise the cut-off points
for university admission. This comes after the Higher Education Loans Board (HELB)
announced that it needs extra money to sponsor last year’s KCSE candidates who qualified
for university.
After Dr Fred Matiang’i took over as the Cabinet secretary The cut-off was lowered to C+ in
2016 from 56 points (B-) for girls and 57 points (B-) for boys the previous year. Out of the
577,253 candidates and only 88,929 had attained C+ and above.
In 2017, the number of students who qualified for university fell to 70,073 from 88,929 in 2016
as only about 11.5 percent scored C+ and above. More than half of the 2017 cohort scored less
than D+, missing out on most courses.
However, CS Machogu explains new criteria after Ruto changes HELB Funding. Ministry
officials gave a detailed breakdown of the formula while appearing before the National
Assembly's Public Investments Committee on Governance and Education to discuss university
funding. The things that will be looked at while disbursing HELB will be, parent background,
gender, course type, previous school type, expenditure on education, family size and
composition, marginalization, and disability.
To add that, the PS noted that funding for university courses will be based on 4 criteria which
are; performance and choice of program, household income bands, affirmative action, and
government priority areas.
How 140,000 students missed HELB Loan.
In the academic year 2022/2023, HELB supported only about 40,000 first-year universities and
45,000 TVET students bringing the total beneficiaries to 85,000. The Higher Education Loans
Board ran out of cash. HELB Loans Board told MPs that students will have to wait longer until
the Treasury releases KSh5.7 billion for onward disbursement to them where the amount has not
yet been disbursed. ‘Currently, we have 140,000 students in TVETs and universities that we
have not been able to fund to the tune of Sh5.7 billion because we have run out of the budget that
we had presented to Treasury of Sh4.5 billion,’ said HELB chief executive Charles Ringera.
This forced parents and guardians to seek alternatives to pay tuition fees for their children. They
were also to foot accommodation and upkeep costs for their children in universities, technical
and vocational education and training (TVET) colleges. This made it hard for some students
hence causing them to defer their studies for that particular academic year.
Will the HELB Loans body be able to disburse money for pending applications?
President William Ruto said that he is thinking of the move to bridge the current higher
education funding gap of up to 45 percent. He said that this plan will double the current HELB
funding from Sh11 billion to Sh22 billion and even eliminate HELB loan interests but
unfortunately, few students were able to benefit from HEELB Loan whereas most of them ended
up missing due to lack of enough funds reported by HELB chief executive Charles Ringera.
The higher education Loans Board HELB has been given enough money for the 2023/2024 academic year. Image courtesy of Capital News
However, the President clarified later on that the Higher Education Loans Board (HELB) has
been given enough money in the 2023/2024 financial year to lend to students across the country.
The head of state said on March 23 while at Kisii County that, his administration will do its best
to ensure that those who are eligible to apply for HELB Loans, receive their funds to enable them
to continue with their studies. His remarks came a day after the HELB Loans Board Commission
said that 140,000 students in public universities and Technical and Vocational Education and
Training Colleges (TVETs) have missed State loans after the board ran out of funds.
Babu Owino to President William Ruto on HELB Loan
Embakasi East MP Babu Owino urged President William Ruto to rethink his plan to scrap
HELB. In a tweet, Owino said that university students depend on the funds to study, adding that
they need the education to better their future.
‘Ruto, HELB wachana nayo Kabisa. (Ruto, leave HELB alone). Comrades are poor and only
education will save them from the york of poverty,’ he said. ‘For we live in an hour of change
and challenge, a decade of hope and fear, in an age of both knowledge and ignorance. The
greater our knowledge increases the greater our ignorance unfolds.’
Ugunja MP Opiyo Wandayi also raised concerns over the president’s plans to scrap Helb Loan.
‘As you disband HELB, what happens to the poor university students who are due to report for
their new semester this month?’,’ Do they also defer their studies for six months, which is
historic?’ He asked.
MP Babu Owino urging President William Ruto to rethink scrapping HELB Loan. Image courtesy of The Star.
Opinion
The HELB Loan Commission is a very important body that is created to help students to pursue
their studies in higher learning institutions through funding them. However, doing away with
HELB Loan means that education will be for the people who have their ‘say’, eliminating the
people who live at the grassroots level, and people who cannot fund their students’ studies for
higher learning education. Overall, HELB Loan Commission is a body that should not be dealt
away with rather giving the body enough money to loan students to ascertain their studies is a
vital need to take action.
Article by Abisai Maloba
