A total of 159,551 university students have completed funding applications through the Higher Education Financing (HEF) Portal as of August 20, 2026.

Of these, 150,403 applications include the Universities Fund scholarship. Specifically, 149,761 were scholarship/loan combination applications, 642 were scholarship-only applications, and 9,148 were loan-only applications. A further 5,732 applications were still ongoing or incomplete.

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

Universities Fund Ag. Chief Executive Officer Dr Edwin Wanyonyi in Nairobi on 21st  August 2026 said the growing demand for higher education financing demonstrates the importance of robust systems that ensure applications and disbursements are processed efficiently, transparently and reliably. Dr Wanyonyi spoke during an event organised to release the data and celebrate ISO recertification at the headquarters.

Over three financial years (FY) – from FY 2023/2024 to FY 2025/2026 – the Fund funded public university students through scholarships, with the number increasing from 118,153 in FY 2023/2024 to 253,042 in FY 2024/2025 and 408,879 in FY2025/2026. The Fund is projecting approximately 608,879 beneficiaries in FY2026/2027.

Under the Student-Centred Funding Model, the Government, through the Fund, has disbursed approximately KSh 47.9 billion in scholarships to students in public universities from FY 2023/2024 through FY 2025/2026. In FY 2026/2027, government scholarships amount to KSh 30.1 billion, bringing the total to KSh 78 billion.

“Under the current Student-Centred Funding Model, the Fund administers government scholarships to eligible students placed in public universities, using assessed financial need as a key determinant of scholarship support. This is not a small responsibility. It is a responsibility that touches the aspirations of families, the future of young people and the human capital needs of our country,” Dr Wanyonyi said.

For private universities, the Fund has disbursed approximately KSh 19.96 billion under the Differentiated Unit Cost framework from FY 2016/2017 to FY 2025/2026. In the current financial year, FY 2026/2027, a total of KSh 974 million has already been disbursed.

At the beginning of August 2026, the Fund also disbursed the first allocation of KSh 2.5 billion to universities.

Dr Wanyonyi said the Fund’s is advancing its quality management approach through digital transformation. In October 2025, the Fund launched its Institutional Portal and Online Donation Portal. The Institutional Portal provides a centralised mechanism for exchanging data between universities and the Fund, enhances transparency through real-time tracking of disbursements and allocations, and improves operational efficiency by accelerating student data verification and processing.

Dr Wanyonyi urged students with ongoing or incomplete applications to complete the process by 31st August 2026. “We, therefore, wish to encourage the affected students to complete the application process by 31st August 2026,” Dr Wanyonyi said.