Parliament is facing calls to rethink how students will finance tertiary education, with education stakeholders seeking interest-free loans, guaranteed funding until graduation and wider use of grants and scholarships under a new financing framework.
The proposals were presented to the National Assembly Education Committee during public participation on the Tertiary Education Placement and Funding Bill, 2026.
The Muslim Education Council wants Parliament to remove provisions that allow interest to be imposed on student loans, saying learners should not repay more than the amount they borrowed apart from any clearly stated administrative cost.
The council has targeted Clause 45(d), which provides for interest, and Clause 49(i), which sets out the period within which loans should be repaid.
"Let the loanee repay the loan as taken and if there is an administrative charge that is known, that one is discussable," Said Abdalla, a council member, told the committee during a public participation session chaired by Mandera South MP Abdul Haro.
Under the existing loan system, undergraduate and TVET beneficiaries are charged four per cent interest each year on their outstanding balances. They also pay a Sh1,000 annual ledger fee.
The concern over loan charges comes against a backdrop of a growing number of borrowers who have fallen behind on repayments. About 256,000 borrowers were listed as defaulters in June 2025, but the figure rose by nearly half to 380,530 five months later.
Most applicants for loans through the Higher Education Loans Board are from low-income households and depend on the funds to meet tuition, accommodation and upkeep expenses.
Kuppet also told the committee that the proposed funding structure needs a dependable source of money if students are to receive support throughout their studies.
Kuppet secretary-general Akello Misori said the proposed fund lacks a secure, ring-fenced revenue source and could therefore depend on annual allocations whose availability may not always be assured.
He said the situation could leave students who have already begun their programmes without the money needed to finish their education.
"As such, there is no guarantee that continuing students will be funded to completion of their programme" said Mr Misori while appearing before the MPs during public participation on the Bill in Nairobi.
The Elimu Bora Working Group has meanwhile called for the government to meet the full cost of tertiary education for students who qualify for support.
The group, hosted at the Kenya Human Rights Commission, wants the proposed system to cater for tuition, accommodation, meals, learning materials, transport and other approved expenses.
It has also proposed that assistance be provided through a mix of grants, scholarships and loans, with the form of support determined by the student's needs and the nature of the expense.
"Full funding means providing resources to meet the approved tuition, institutional, academic, accommodation, learning, transport, health, practical training, research, and other essential costs needed by a student in pursuing an approved programme for the full duration of the study,, EBWG representative Mohamed Farah said.
The group wants the Bill to give every Kenyan student or trainee admitted to an accredited public tertiary institution an entitlement to enough financial support to meet approved education costs.
"Every Kenyan student or trainee admitted to an accredited public tertiary institution shall be entitled to full financial support sufficient to meet the approved cost of tuition, accommodation, meals, learning materials, transport and other prescribed costs (eligibility of costs being determined by the authority)."
Farah said the Bill should also set clear rules to ensure students have equal access to government support and that tertiary education is available to all who qualify.
He called for Clause 4 to be amended to create an enforceable system that guarantees universal student support.
EBWG has further proposed amendments to Clause 29 to broaden the forms of government assistance available to learners beyond loans.
"The purpose of the fund shall be to provide full government funding to eligible students and trainees in the form of grants, scholarships, or loans according to the need and nature of the cost" said Boaz Waruku, Policy and Strategy Advisor at Elimu Bora Working Group.
Another group, Mau Mau Children Post-Colonial Elites (MMV Associates CLG), called for changes to the six education Bills to ensure the laws promote access to education while addressing the changing needs of society.
The organisation said the education system should remain accessible, affordable, fair and transparent, while also preparing learners for employment and supporting competency-based education.
It cautioned Parliament and the government against introducing measures that could make education harder to access for learners from poor, marginalised, rural and historically disadvantaged communities.
"The organisation particularly calls upon Parliament and the government to ensure implementation does not create additional barriers for children and young people from poor, marginalised, rural and historically disadvantaged communities," Emmah Kasis, the chief executive officer said.
Kasis also called for education to be viewed as a wider public investment and a right protected by the Constitution rather than mainly as an economic product for individuals.
"Education should be treated as a national investment and a constitutional right, rather than merely an individual economic commodity."