Students from Kisii county received the lion’s share of support from the Higher Education Loans Board last year, the Public Service Commission has revealed.
Details emerging for the first time on how Helb is shared show that 33,400 students from the county got Sh2.1 billion.
Kisii was followed by Homa Bay county whose 32,000 applicants received Sh1.8 billion.
Kakamega and Bungoma were also among the highest beneficiaries with about Sh1.7 billion each for 34,876 and 35,170 students respectively.
Helb is usually awarded based on an applicant’s financial status, with total orphans entitled to a maximum of Sh60,000 per year.
Partial orphans or those with parents who are vulnerable as a result of disability are usually awarded a minimum of Sh40,000.
Helb also assesses students’ economic backgrounds including household income, number of dependents and employment status.
Students from more vulnerable families receive a higher percentage of support to cater to their tuition and upkeep.
Nairobi was also among the counties that got more than a billion, with Sh1.4 billion disbursed in the period under review.
The PSC compliance report covering up to December 2024 shows that Helb disbursed about Sh1.2 billion to Nakuru students.
The 21,683 students from Kisumu who applied for the government loan got Sh1.18 billion, followed by Kericho and Bomet with Sh1.1 billion each.
At least 20,269 students from Migori were awarded Sh1.1 billion during the period under review while Meru, Siaya and Kiambu students got slightly more than Sh1 billion.
Other counties with considerably higher amounts were Kitui, where students received Sh944 million, and those in the neighbouring Makueni got Sh869 million.
Uasin Gishu students who applied for the loans got Sh845 million, Sh866 million in Busia, Sh873 million in Nandi, and Sh801 million in Trans Nzoia.
The least amount went to Mandera where 398 students got Sh34 million, even as it emerged that students in Wajir got more individually compared to other regions.
The 2024 PSC compliance report reveals that a student in Wajir is likely to get about Sh45,000 from the government loans kitty than a student in Tharaka Nithi.
Whereas every student in Wajir got Sh89,000, those in the other regions received amounts in the range of Sh46,000 to Sh65,000.
Tharaka Nithi had 8,914 applicants who got a total of Sh417 million, with Busia following in the lower category. Despite the border county receiving Sh866 million, there were more students (17,938) sharing the amount.
Students in Embu, despite being few also got an average of Sh48,350 of the Sh431 million that was disbursed in respect of applications from the county.
The highest amount was disbursed to students at Kenyatta University, who got Sh1.5 billion, followed by Maseno and Kisii universities at Sh1.3 billion.
Besides the loans to learners, Helb disbursed another Sh8.8 billion in capitation to universities. Kenyatta University got the highest amount at Sh667 million, followed by the University of Nairobi Sh585 million and Kisii University Sh559 million.
JKUAT received Sh545 million followed by Maseno at Sh504 million and Masinde Muliro closely at Sh408 million.
The amounts are disbursed largely on the student enrollment but also depending on the programmes students are undertaking.
Moi University received Sh385 million during the year under review followed by Egerton at Sh367 million and Chuka at Sh307 million.
Turkana University College received the least amount at Sh20 million even as other universities received between Sh25 million and Sh289 million.
The commission reveals that the National Defence
University of Kenya was not allocated any funds.
