All students who qualify for university education will get full government funding if a proposal on higher education funding is approved by Parliament, President William Ruto has announced.
The president appears to have ditched the higher education funding model he introduced in 2022, and which has received mixed reactions from stakeholders. Yesterday at State House, he appealed to the National Assembly to fast-track the approval process of the new proposal so that students who are joining university for the first time in September this year may benefit.
“Now we have in Parliament the final version of how we are going to make higher education universal. It will not matter the background of any child in Kenya, it will matter how good they are. Going into the future, we’ve been trying to grapple with how do we fund our higher education,” said Dr Ruto.
However, the Nation has established that currently there are no proposed changes to the Helb Act in Parliament.
The proposal can only be actualised through a Bill presented to any of the two Houses of Parliament and enacted.
President Ruto spoke at State House during the presentation of a proposal on developing a new vision for Kenya from a team of experts. Before the State House meeting, Education Cabinet Secretary Julius Ogamba, Principal Secretary for Higher Education Beatrice Inyangala and Prof Daniel Mugendi, who chairs the Vice Chancellors Committee of Public Universities, had earlier met over the issue. The chairperson of the National Assembly Education Committee Julius Melly was also at the State House briefing.
Education CS Julius Ogamba (left)and Principal Secretary State Department for Higher Education and Research Dr Beatrice Inyangala at Jogoo House, Nairobi, on July 1, 2025.
Photo credit: Lucy Wanjiru | Nation Media Group
“We tried the Differentiated Unit Cost [model], it didn’t work and it made most of our universities almost close down; because while we promised 80 per cent funding, we went down to 40 per cent and most universities suffered. We’ve worked on what we thought was equity where we said parents will contribute a small portion and then [government] will give a small portion of loan, a small portion of scholarship; that creates equity but it’s not good enough. Now we’re moving to universal under the amendments we’ve taken to Parliament,” the president said.
Funding for higher education has been a headache for President Ruto. Cumulative pending bills owed by public universities have increased from about Sh60 billion in 2022 to over Sh85 billion. Students have also complained about the funding model the government introduced in 2023. They say that most of them have been unable to pursue the courses they would have wish to.
“So going forward, any student — so long as they have passed their exam and are placed in a college or university — will get full funding for their higher education. It will be the choice of parents to pay, and if they don’t, we now have a model that will pay for every child. I implore Parliament to expedite amendments to the Helb Act so that beginning from September, any child who qualifies … funding does not deter them from achieving their goals,” Dr Ruto said.
However, the president appears to have spoken before the proposal got to Parliament. Also, details of how the model will work are still scanty.
“We do not have details as yet. Once they are finalised, the proposal will be brought to us for wider discussion,” Prof Mugendi told Nation.
Dr Inyangala confirmed that such a proposal is in the works, but it not ready yet.
“We’ve to interpret and flesh out the proposal. It’s a process. We need time to work on this,” she told Nation.
“A proud moment for our students, our nation, and the future of higher education. In a significant boost to Kenya's commitment to 100 per cent transition to institutions of higher learning, His Excellency, the President of the Republic of Kenya, Dr William Samoei Ruto, PhD, CGH, has announced a proposal to fund all students who will be joining universities in September 2026. If approved through the laid down mechanisms, it will ensure universal access to university education,” Dr Inyangala later posted on her X handle:
During the National Education Conference held in Naivasha in May, President Ruto directed the Higher Education Loans Board Chief Executive Officer Geoffrey Monari to expedite a proposal for a better and sustainable model to fund higher education.
Higher Education Loans Board CEO Geoffrey Monari.
Photo credit: File | Nation Media Group
Mr Monari later revealed details of a proposal to finance higher education by turning to financial markets through a Sh500 million social bond.
The ambitious plan, currently under discussion with the World Bank, seeks to securitise Helb’s loan book and attract investors in order to guarantee predictable and timely funding for students in universities and Technical and Vocational Education and Training (Tvet) institutions.
Currently, about 450,000 beneficiaries of Helb loans are actively repaying the money, enabling the agency to collect approximately Sh700 million every month.
“Our annual capitation is Sh41 billion. We give out about Sh46 billion annually, yet our capital base since 1975 stands at Sh200 billion,” said Mr Monari who spoke during an interview with the Government Spokesperson Mr Isaac Mwaura.
Apart from loans, Helb also sets aside Sh237 million annually in bursaries for needy students, with Sh137 million allocated to university learners and Sh100 million directed to Tvet students.
Mr Monari said the agency gives loans to students in private universities, however, scholarships are for students in public universities in addition to the loans.
