Government extends tertiary funding deadline to 21 September after 789,422 applications

The government has disbursed KES 22.12 billion to continuing university and TVET students and extended the application window for first-time applicants after the original deadline lapsed with hundreds of thousands of submissions still pending.

Key points

• The initial funding window closed on 31 August 2026 with 789,422 applications received.

• KES 22.12 billion has been disbursed for first-semester funding to continuing students and TVET trainees.

• First-time applicants now have until 21 September 2026 to apply, and will be funded under the existing student-centred model until the Tertiary Education Placement and Funding Bill 2026 becomes law.

Education Cabinet Secretary Julius Migos Ogamba announced the extension at a press briefing on 3 September 2026. He said the initial application window for tertiary education funding, covering university students and TVET trainees, lapsed on 31 August 2026, by which point 789,422 applications had been received, and that the government had already disbursed KES 22.12 billion in first-term funding to continuing students and trainees.

Ogamba said the Universities Fund and the Higher Education Loans Board (HELB) had been directed to extend the application window for all eligible first-time applicants to 21 September 2026, to accommodate students and trainees who missed the original deadline for various reasons.

Why two funding models are running at once

Ogamba said first-time applicants for this intake will be processed under the current student-centred funding model, because the Tertiary Education Placement and Funding Bill 2026, which would introduce a new Universal Access and Funding Framework, has passed only its first reading and awaits a second reading once Parliament resumes. He said all tertiary students, including first, second and third years, will be transitioned to the new model proportionately once the bill becomes law, and that no student would be left without funding while the legislative process continues.

Asked to clarify, he confirmed the KES 22.12 billion already disbursed covers only continuing students, while funds for first-year applicants will be released to institutions once their applications are processed under the existing model.

Addressing concerns about loan burden

Responding to concerns that the new universal funding model could burden students with debt, Ogamba pointed to TVET enrolment as an example, saying enrolment had grown from about 297,000 to roughly 780,000 against a 2 million target, with a program cost of KES 67,150 causing some students to drop out. He said the new model would fund that cost upfront, with graduates repaying over a 10-year period beginning one year after they start working or start a business, and that current loan repayment rates of around 80% were projected to rise to about 85% under the new mechanisms.

Timeline for the new funding bill

Asked how confident he was that the legislative process would not stall, Ogamba cited the fast-tracking of the National Infrastructure Fund as precedent and said he expects the Tertiary Education Placement and Funding Bill to pass this year, once Parliament resumes, adding that no complaints had been raised against the bill so far.

First-year numbers and fee structure

Approximately 195,000 first-year applications had been received against an expected 202,000, and that these applicants are being processed separately from the 789,422 continuing-student applications. Ogamba confirmed fee structures for first-time applicants remain unchanged from the current model.

Frequently asked questions

Who can still apply for tertiary education funding?
All eligible first-time applicants in universities and TVET institutions who missed the original 31 August 2026 deadline can apply through the extended window, which closes 21 September 2026.

How much funding has the government released so far?
KES 22.12 billion has been disbursed in first-semester or first-term funding to continuing university students and TVET trainees, as of the original application deadline.

What happens once the Tertiary Education Placement and Funding Bill passes?
All tertiary students, including continuing and first-year students, will be transitioned proportionately to the new Universal Access and Funding Framework once Parliament passes the bill, which had reached its first reading as of the briefing.

Will first-time applicants pay more under the new funding model?
Cabinet Secretary Julius Migos Ogamba said the new model funds course costs upfront, with repayment beginning one year after a graduate starts working or starts a business, spread over a 10-year period.