The government has blacklisted over 64,000 former student loan beneficiaries who have defaulted on their repayments. HELB has disbursed KSh 195 billion to students in the last three decades. Photo: HELB. Source: Getty Images By listing them with the Credit Reference Bureau (CRB), the Higher Education Loans Board (HELB) effectively prevents them from obtaining credit facilities such as mortgages and loans. What is the total value of unpaid HELB loans? According to HELB chief executive officer (CEO) Geoffrey Monari, over 300,000 former students jointly owe the board KSh 32 billion in unpaid loans.
CBK revokes Bonto Kenya money transfer’s licence as fintech shuts down ODM MP Laments borrowing KSh 2k, forced to pay KSh 16k to digital lender: “Daylight robbery” Over the past three decades, the agency has disbursed KSh 195 billion in student loans, which covered tuition, meals and books. “In 2024, we collected KSh 5.2 billion, which supported 50,000 university students and 114,000 students in technical and vocational training institutions,” Monari revealed, as quoted by the Daily Nation. Why HELB borrowers are struggling To support current students, funds recovered from previous recipients are reinvested in the HELB model, which is a revolving fund. Kenyan universities currently have at least 708,000 students enrolled, and this year alone saw more than 100,000 graduates. However, the scheme’s viability is threatened due to irregular loan repayments, as graduates struggle with unemployment.
“I graduated in 2021 with a bachelor’s degree in media science from Moi University. Since then, I have not secured a reliable job to enable me to make consistent HELB repayments,” Cheluget Mutai, a former beneficiary, told TUKO.co.ke. New report shows 4m Kenyans were denied mobile loans amid rising default rates Step-by-step process to apply for police constable jobs in Kenya According to the law, employers must disclose any graduates they hire within 30 days and begin deducting money, which they must subsequently send to HELB. Education CS Julius Ogamba revealed that the government disbursed KSh 9.46 billion HELB loans. What is HELB’s plan? To address the growing trend of defaults, HELB has developed a multi-faceted approach. One is the creation of a self-protection fund, in which 0.037% of each loan is reserved for recipients who die before completing their payments. About 2,000 people have already passed away with outstanding loans. Another method is to use the police to track down defaulters locally and abroad.
“To make sure employers are making the deductions on schedule, we have significantly increased our inspections. We conducted 236 inspections and billed 28,000 former students who had not yet begun making payments this year alone,” Monari revealed. How much did HELB disburse in August? Education Cabinet Secretary (CS) Julius Migos Ogamba disclosed on Tuesday, August 19, that HELB had disbursed KSh 9.46 billion to support 309,178 students. Over 5,000 Kenyan youths start business training countrywide, to receive KSh 50k capital Lecturers strike: UASU directs dons to down tools at midnight after govt fails to meet demands From the amount, KSh 3.7 billion was allocated for student upkeep, while KSh 5.76 billion was channelled to tuition. The CS also reassured students that the government was dedicated to ensuring that everyone has access to higher education, emphasising that the goal was to eliminate obstacles that keep brilliant individuals from humble backgrounds from enrolling.
By Japhet Ruto
