The Higher Education Loans Board (HELB), a state corporation in the Ministry of Education, has been a leading financier of higher education in Kenya since July 1995 when it was established by the Act of Parliament ‘Higher Education Loans Board Act’ Cap 213A.
HELB provides financial aid to students with economic difficulty pursuing full-time higher education across universities, colleges, and other career schools in the country and within the East African Community.
Because Kenya’s regular higher education sector has seen dramatic increases in enrollment, as well as tuition fees, HELB, rebranded recently as Higher Education Financing (HEF), is one government funding authority that gives state-subsidized and direct unsubsidized loans, bursaries, and scholarships to eligible undergraduate and graduate students in the country.
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What is the maximum amount you can borrow from HELB?
The educational loan amounts that HELB is giving range from a minimum of Ksh40,000 to Ksh60,000 maximum for undergraduate students and, based on their level of study and dependency status, up to 90% of program fees to a maximum of Ksh600,000 Jielimishe Loans for students and professionals doing their master’s and Ph.D. programs.
Compared to many student loan services, HELB has the lowest interest rate. Currently, it is 4% per year and a yearly Ksh1,000 ledger fee for Undergraduate Loans and 10% p.a. with a flexible repayment period of 12-48 months (72 months for public servants) for Jielimishe Loans for those students in formal employment.
What is the deadline of applying HELB 2024/2025?
Due to the simplified online application process that does not need rigorous credit checks or a co-signer, taking out a HELB loan as a student is easy if you are eligible to receive it.
“Students are advised to apply for the loan at least one month before the opening date to allow ample time for processing,” says HELB.
Except for Jielimishe Loans, whose deadline is August 31, 2024, new applications for HELB are still welcomed – the final date has not yet been announced because students are still joining universities.
However, HELB has started disbursing upkeep money to students’ personal settlement accounts, and tuition loans are being sent to their institutions for the 2024/2025 academic year.
Worth noting, the payment status of students with batch numbers 5796 and 5788 is “Paid to account,” and they can withdraw the funds to Mpesa or their bank account for use.
How can I link HELB with Mpesa?
If you are one of the successful HELB loan applicants and have passed the Verified, Allocated, Disbursement in Progress to Paid stages, maybe you are wondering how you can link your HELB account to Mpesa to withdraw the funds;
It is understandable – Mpesa is the most used money transfer and payment service here. Moreover, it has shorter clearance times, and it is safe:-
Here is how to link Mpesa to your HELB account
There are three ways you can access HELB loans on Mpesa. Two methods are free, but the last one will cost you a shilling or two as the charges for running the service on your phone.
1. Go to the application store on your phone and download Safaricom’s M-PESA App, then register and log into the app using the number you used to register and apply for Helb. After that, go to the Education category and select the HELB mini app. From there, proceed to withdraw HELB funds to Mpesa.
2. Dial Mpesa USSD code *334# > Go to option 6 Lipa na M-PESA > select Government Services > Go to option 2 HELB > Log in and withdraw the funds.
3. Use the official HELB USSD code *642#. It costs around Ksh2 access fee.
