Funding Model
The second cohort of students joining tertiary institutions this year will also receive financial support under the student-centred model for higher education, same as the previous year.
In a press statement, Education CS Ezekiel Machogu disclosed that of the 201,146 candidates who qualified for university entry in 2023 KCSE examination, 153,274 students have been placed by KUCCPS to various degree programmes in universities.
Based on the placement results, Machogu said that some Universities have released letters of admission and fees structures for the courses as displayed in the KUCCPS portal during the application process. According to the CS, all parents, guardians and students are notified that the results of the funding application process will be released from July 31st, 2024.
In light of the foregoing, he stated that all first-year students will report to their respective universities based on their admission letters and joining instruction as advised. Further, upon results of the funding application being released, he said that Universities shall notify all their respective First-Year students of the amount to be paid by parents/guardians (households).
Machogu also directed the Universities and Funding Agencies to immediately embark on sensitization of students, parents/guardians and stakeholders on the Student-Centred Funding Model. “I direct the Higher Education Loans Board (HELB) and the Universities Fund (UF) to open the Higher Education Funding portal- www.hef.co.ke- on June 15th, 2024 to allow the eligible students to apply for funding,” he proclaimed.
Machogu noted that some parents/guardians (households) have had a perception that they will be required to pay the full fees as contained in the admission letters issued by individual Universities. In light of this, the CS clarified that fees for each degree programme will be funded through three components, that is, Scholarship, Loan and Parents/Guardians (Household) contribution, stressing that the funding allocation for each component will depend on the assessed level of need of each applicant.
Further, he reiterated that the Parents/Guardians (Household) contribution for each student will only be known after the student has applied for funding and assessment based on the level of need is completed which will thereafter, determine the amount of Scholarship and Loan that they require.
For the first time since the government adopted the cost sharing policy in higher education, 100 percent of the 2023 KCSE examination applicants received financial support to pursue their programme of choice in the country’s Universities and TVET institutions, with the government still on course to emulate the same with the second cohort of students joining Universities this year.