Continuing university students will benefit from a Sh4.2 billion disbursement to public universities this week, as the government moves to support learners under the Student Centred Funding Model. The announcement was made by the Universities Fund (UF).
Speaking during a technical workshop in Naivasha, UF acting CEO Edwin Wanyonyi said the funds will support students enrolled in various programmes and form part of ongoing reforms designed to fund learners directly based on their financial needs.
“In the 2025/2026 financial year, the Universities Fund has already disbursed Sh8.4 billion in scholarship support,” Wanyonyi said. He added that more than Sh37 billion has been sent to public universities since 2023 to support undergraduate education.
The first cohort of students under the Student-Centred Funding Model (SCFM), introduced in 2021, is expected to graduate in 2027.
Wanyonyi explained that the model allocates funding to students according to their level of financial need, marking a shift from the previous system in which funds were channelled directly to institutions.
Under the programme, students may receive scholarships covering between 30 and 70 per cent of their tuition, with the remaining cost met through household contributions or student loans.
The CEO also noted that eligibility requires students to have been placed in public universities through the Kenya Universities and Colleges Central Placement Service (KUCCPS) and to have sat their Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) examination in 2022 or later.
Scholarship applications are submitted through the Higher Education Financing Portal (HEF Portal), where the Means Testing Instrument assesses a student’s level of need.
“A new cohort of students who sat the 2025 KCSE examination and attained the minimum university entry grade will be expected to apply for scholarships through the HEF Portal,” he added.
Kenya’s higher education sector has expanded significantly and now includes 83 universities nationwide. Admissions have risen by 332 per cent, increasing from 62,581 students in 2017 to 270,715 in 2025. This growth has created funding pressures that the SCFM is intended to address.
The announcement follows assurances from the Ministry of Education that there will be no university fee increase this year, even as more than 250,000 candidates from the 2025 KCSE examinations seek admission to higher learning institutions.
Speaking during the release of the 2025 KCSE results in Uasin Gishu County on January 9, Education Cabinet Secretary Julius Ogamba said, “At the tertiary level, we are implementing the Student-Centred Funding Model, which provides students and trainees with scholarships and loans based on need.”
He also noted that public university fees have been rationalised by between 15 and 40 per cent, with semester costs now ranging from Sh5,800 to Sh75,000.
The SCFM was unveiled by President William Ruto on May 3, 2023. The policy seeks to address persistent funding challenges in public universities and Technical and Vocational Education and Training institutions, driven largely by rapid enrolment growth and limited financial resources.
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