In-Depth Information Regarding the New Higher Education fund
For university students assigned through KUCCPS, the authorities employed a variant of the New Higher Education Funding (NHEF), which covers loans and grants.
According to a presidential order signed on May 3, 2023, by President William Ruto, the NHEF’s concept changed to the following.
A new methodology will be used when KCSE 2022 applicants are admitted to colleges and facilities for the academic year 2023–2024.
The idea is to circumvent the system that pays students in higher education by using compensatory financial resources, government scholarships, and loans for students’ special needs and costs associated with their programmes.
The main goal of this contemporary investment strategy is to provide equal access to college and technical and vocational education and training (TVET) for university students from low-income households.
Four elements can be considered when determining the investment under the NHEF: the chosen programme, the family profit band, the good performance, and the priority regions of the authorities.
To statistically compare the preferences of college students, a means testing instrument (MTI) with 8 variables—including parental origin, gender, kind of major, marginalisation, handicap, size of one’s own circle of relatives, and composition—was developed.
With the aid of these traits, a nation can make informed decisions about the preferences of numerous families and allocate resources accordingly.
For college students from wealthy families, scholarships outnumber loans, but for those from significantly less wealthy families, loans outnumber scholarships.
Based only on their level of need, the NHEF divides pupils into four groups: inclined, shockingly needy, needy, and much less needed. Authorities will provide all financial aid to undergraduates who come under sensitive and severely needy agencies through loans and scholarships.
People who are poor or significantly less in need can get 93% of the cost of lessons from the government; the remaining 7% can be covered by the student.
The government will provide up to 40% of loans and bursaries to deserving students, covering all 53% of their hours and leaving the remaining 7% to be covered by home income.
Also Read: HELB Issues New Directive To All University Students
Similar to this, university students who enrol in TVET are eligible for government loans up to 30% and scholarships up to 50%, plus 20% from their families.
University students who meet the requirements for investing must submit the required paperwork via the Higher Education Funding website (www.hef.co.ke) after being contacted by Keeps.
Students who are still enrolled in school may not be affected by this new funding model because they will continue to receive financial aid under current government policies.
For the 2023–24 fiscal year, authorities increased their funding in Better Education to speed up the opening of this new institution.
The standard loan amount increased from Sh152,000 to Sh208,000. This has evolved into a strategy for increasing funding for better education.
Additionally, during the same fiscal year, the TVET funding aid increased from Sh5.2 billion to Sh10 billion, or Sh67,000 per student.
In-Depth Information Regarding the New Higher Education fund
