The Higher Education Loans Board has pushed the final date for first-time university and TVET applicants to 14 September, giving new students an extra two weeks to secure funding.
Continuing students now have until 7 September, up from the original 31 August. Education Cabinet Secretary Julius Ogamba issued the directive on 29 August, a move that will keep the window open for hundreds of thousands of learners across the country.
By 1 September, HELB had already logged 1,117,239 applications; 741,931 from undergraduates and 375,308 from TVET trainees, showing the surge that prompted the extension.
HELB Update!
Applications for first-time & continuing UG & TVET loans are open!1,117,239 students have already applied (as of 1st Sept 2025). See the poster below for details. pic.twitter.com/WGVTImSFKy
— OFFICIAL HELB PAGE (@HELBpage) September 2, 2025
Students can still apply through the *642# USSD code, the HELB Mobile App, or the M-PESA Mini App.
The extension was linked to the release of KSh 23.16 billion in combined aid. The Universities Fund provided KSh 4.1 billion in scholarships for public-university students, while HELB wired KSh 19.06 billion; KSh 7.6 billion for tuition and KSh 11.46 billion for upkeep, to ensure campuses open on time.
“We are pleased to notify parents, guardians, university and TVET students that the Universities Fund and the Higher Education Loans Board have, as of today, disbursed a total of KSh 23.16 billion in financial support,” Ogamba said.
“To ensure that no student is left behind, the Universities Fund and the Higher Education Loans Board have been instructed to extend the timeline for first-year applicants to 14th September, 2025,” he added.
The post HELB Extends Loan Application Deadline as 1.1 Million Students Already Apply appeared first on Bossnana.
