NAIROBI, Kenya, Aug 21 – A total of 159,551 university students have completed their funding applications through the Higher Education Financing (HEF) Portal, with more than 150,000 applications including a Universities Fund scholarship, as the institution moves to strengthen the administration of higher education financing.

📻 Breaking It Down

Data from the Universities Fund shows that 150,403 of the completed applications included a scholarship component. Of these, 149,761 were scholarship-and-loan combination applications, while 642 were scholarship-only applications.

A further 9,148 students submitted loan-only applications, while 5,732 applications remained ongoing or incomplete as of August 20, 2026.

The applicants are drawn from 202,133 students placed in public universities by the Kenya Universities and Colleges Central Placement Service (KUCCPS) for the 2026/2027 academic year.

📌 What You Need to Know

Universities Fund Chief Executive Officer Dr Edwin Wanyonyi said the growing demand for higher education financing underscored the need for efficient, transparent and reliable systems to process applications and disburse funds.

The latest figures were released as the Universities Fund received ISO 9001:2015 recertification from the Kenya Bureau of Standards (KEBS), reaffirming its commitment to quality management, accountability and continuous improvement.

“For us, ISO certification is fundamentally about trust. It is about assuring students that their applications and funding are handled through transparent and reliable systems. It is about assuring universities that funding processes are governed by clear procedures and accountability mechanisms,” Wanyonyi said.

He added that the certification also provides assurance to the Government and taxpayers that public resources are being managed prudently.

The Universities Fund has significantly expanded its scholarship coverage under the Student-Centred Funding Model amid rising demand for university education.

The number of public university students supported through scholarships increased from 118,153 in the 2023/2024 financial year to 253,042 in 2024/2025 and 408,879 in 2025/2026.

📰 Source: Capital FM Kenya