Thousands of former students could soon come under renewed pressure to clear their HELB loans after the board revealed that about 290,000 beneficiaries are yet to repay Sh29 billion borrowed to finance their education.
The Higher Education Loans Board CEO Geoffrey Monari said the outstanding amount is needed to keep financial support flowing to students currently in universities and other institutions of higher learning.
Speaking on Thursday, August 20, Monari said the money tied up in unpaid loans could have funded about 48,000 students to complete their higher education.
He called on beneficiaries who have completed their studies but have not started making repayments to honour their obligation, saying every payment made goes back into the system to help another student access education funding.
"We urge students who have not commenced repaying their loans to start repaying their loans. It is important because the money that we are getting from these students is what we will be able to use to support the current students who are in the university," he said.
Monari said HELB does not operate like a one-time funding programme, explaining that money recovered from former beneficiaries is used to finance new applicants.
"This is a revolving fund, and therefore past beneficiaries should be able to repay their loans so that we can be able to pay for the current students," he added.
His remarks come against the backdrop of continued concerns over students experiencing delays in receiving funds meant to support their studies.
Earlier this month, the Office of the Ombudsman said it had helped a Pwani University student receive Sh55,200 in upkeep money after she complained about delays in processing her HELB allocation.
The student, who is government-sponsored, had applied for HELB funding in August 2025, seeking assistance with both tuition and upkeep costs.
According to the Commission, HELB processed her tuition allocation but did not release the upkeep component, leading her to seek intervention.
"While HELB processed her tuition funding, it did not process her upkeep allocation, prompting her to seek the intervention of the Commission," the statement read.
The Ombudsman then raised the matter with HELB through an inquiry dated May 11, 2026.
In a response dated June 26, 2026, HELB confirmed that the student was a bona fide government-sponsored student.
The Board explained that a mismatch in her original application had affected the funding awarded to her. She had indicated that she was self-sponsored when submitting her application, leading to the allocation of tuition funding only.
"However, at the time of submitting her application, she had indicated that she was a self-sponsored student and was consequently awarded tuition fees amounting to Ksh90,301.80 only," the statement added.
HELB asked the student to amend her information on the Higher Education Financing Student Portal so that her application reflected her correct sponsorship status.
"The Board advised Ms. W.N.M. to update her details on the Higher Education Financing Student Portal to accurately reflect her status as a government-sponsored student, which she subsequently did," the statement further read.
The student later updated her information as advised, after which HELB released an additional Sh55,200 as upkeep funding.
The payment resolved the complaint lodged with the Commission and allowed the student to access the funds that had initially not been processed.
The case comes as HELB pushes former beneficiaries to repay their loans, with the board maintaining that recoveries are essential to ensuring students who need financial support can continue receiving assistance.