The Higher Education Loans Board, HELB, is a financier of higher education in Kenya. It was established by an Act of Parliament (Cap 213A) in
1995 as state Corporation under the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology.
Responsibilities and Objectives
The mandate of the Board is to disburse loans, bursaries and
scholarship to students pursuing higher education in recognized institution. HELB
provides affordable LOANS, bursaries and scholarship to Kenyans pursuing higher
education. In addition, the Board is empowered to recover all outstanding loans
given to former university students by the GoK since 1952 through HELF and to
establish a Revolving Fund from which funds can be drawn to lend out to needy
Kenyan students pursuing higher education.
The Board’s objective is to give financial support
to NEEDY Kenyan students ( Undergraduate and Post-graduate students ) in
institutions of higher learning both locally and abroad. However, due to
financial constraints, it is currently not in a position to provide loans to
students studying outside the country. This includes self-sponsored students
and government sponsored students who are admitted to public universities
through the Kenya Universities and Colleges Placement Service ( Kuccps).
The board awards the loan to the following
categories of students:
a.Diploma and Certificate Students
Students
pursuing Diploma and Certificate courses in Public universities, university colleges, public national polytechnics andInstitutes of Technology and Technical Training institutes country-wide are eligible for TVET loan and bursary. Orphans, single parent students and others who come from poor backgrounds will be given priority for the loans and or bursaries. The application period is January to April every year.
b.Undergraduate Government or self Sponsored Students
Students pursuing undergraduate programmees in Public universities and university colleges are
eligible to apply for Direct Entry
Students Loans. These loans are for students joining public or private universities/colleges within the East African Community directly from high
school either through the KUCCPS or as self-sponsored.
c. Post Graduate stsudents
HELB awards scholarships to postgraduate students pursuing their Masters or Doctoral studies. The award is based on academic merit. Scholarships are allocated to universities every year, based on the population of their student. The application period is April to July every year and the beneficiaries are announced before the beginning of the academic year in September. Applicants are required to pay a processing fee of kshs 3,000