Update on Unpaid Scholarship and HELB Loans from Previous Academic Years
2 min read
Many students are still waiting for HELB loans and scholarship funds from previous academic years, including 2024/2025, after delays caused by a shortage of funds from the National Treasury.
According to the latest updates, the delays are linked to a KSh 35.1 billion budget gap, which has affected the release of money meant for higher education funding.
Why the Funds Have Delayed
HELB and the Higher Education Financing (HEF) system have acknowledged that some payments are still pending. However, there is no clear date on when the money will be released because disbursements depend on the availability of funds from the government.
Students who had their applications successfully verified and allocated batch numbers are still entitled to receive their funds once the Treasury releases the money.
Some Portal Records May Not Appear
Students have reported missing tuition or scholarship records on the HEF portal. However, this is mainly a system issue and does not mean that an application has been cancelled.
In many cases, the portal only displays upkeep allocations, leaving other details blank.
Appeals Mainly Benefited Recent Semesters
Students who appealed for higher funding bands have seen adjustments mainly applied to later semesters. Most of the appeals did not result in back payments for previous academic years.
What Students Should Do
Students are advised not to rely only on information shown on the online portal.
They should visit their university or TVET finance offices to confirm whether any tuition or scholarship balances have been updated in the institution’s records.
Students with long-pending batches can also send an inquiry to HELB through contactcentre@helb.co.ke. They should include their National ID number, registration details and screenshots showing the pending batches.
At the same time, continuing students are encouraged to apply for the 2026/2027 HELB loans instead of waiting for previous balances to be cleared. Applications are currently open through the HELB Mobile App and the *642# USSD code.
Funding Challenges Continue
Some students are still waiting for money from the 2022/2023, 2023/2024 and 2024/2025 academic years because the funds allocated to HELB during those periods were not enough.
The same challenge has affected the 2025/2026 academic year, with many institutions facing financial pressure as they struggle to operate.
Education stakeholders say the delays are largely caused by inadequate funding from the National Treasury rather than HELB itself. They warn that unless more money is released, universities and colleges may continue passing some of the burden to students.
Once a new application cycle begins, disbursements under the previous cycle are generally considered closed, although students whose allocations had already been approved remain eligible to receive the money whenever funds become available.
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