CS Ogamba: How student-centred funding model will level higher education

As universities and Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) institutions reopen for continuing students and first years, questions persist over the clarity of student loans.

Administered through the Higher Education Loans Board (HELB), the loans are designed to expand access to higher education by helping learners from low-income backgrounds cover tuition fees and upkeep.

Under the government’s model, support is offered through a mix of scholarships and loans in varying proportions, with repayment beginning once graduates secure a source of income.

In the wake of confusion and lack of clarity over student loan financing, Education Cabinet Secretary Julius Migos Ogamba outlined the government’s new Student-Centred Funding Model, introduced in May 2025, as a step towards making higher education more equitable,  affordable, and accessible.

Speaking at the inaugural Elimu Mashinani stakeholder engagement at Maasai Mara University on August 2, the Cabinet Secretary revealed that, under the model, the lowest household contribution recorded across 39 universities was 15 per cent.

“The lowest household payment level across the 39 universities currently open now stands at 15 per cent, with the government covering the remaining 85 per cent,” he pointed out.

“Because of the rationalisation that we have done, more students are now able to pay fees,” Mr Ogamba said, citing Chuka University as an example.

Out of 6,800 students who have reported there, he explained, only one parent had been unable to pay fees in full. The parent has two children enrolled at the university, and while they managed to pay for one, they requested more time to settle the second.

“That fee has been reduced,” he added.

Mr Ogamba stressed that the Student-Centred Funding Model not only guarantees affordability but also strengthens the sustainability of higher education. 

For the first time, government support is tied to a transparent means-testing process, ensuring that students with the greatest financial need receive the most assistance.

“We had high fees, low payment levels, and more dropouts. Now we are going to have more students paying, greater sustainability for universities, and higher retention,” he said. 

He noted that a survey by the Ministry of Education showed 144,000 students had reported back for the new semester by Tuesday, 2nd August 2025, describing it as an early indication that the model is beginning to take effect.

“So, the 39 universities that have opened,  as of 6 o’clock (August 2nd), 138,000 students have reported. By 7 o’clock, when I checked my phone, the number had risen to 144,000.

An analysis was done as to the actual cost of each program. We were able to reduce the cost of all the programs in universities by between 15 per cent and 40 per cent,” Ogamba said.

He underscored that the new funding model was finalised on August 15 and urged universities to implement it in full. Some institutions, he observed, had not yet reopened, possibly because they had not uploaded the revised fee structures by the August deadline.

He reiterated that the funding model forms part of the government’s wider education reforms aimed at aligning Kenya’s system with global realities. To support the reforms, the government has recruited 76,000 teachers, against a target of 116,000,  the highest in the country’s history. 23,000 modern classrooms have been built to enable the smooth rollout of Competency-Based Education (CBE).

During the Elimu Mashinani programme, a stakeholders-driven engagement, CS Ogamba was accompanied by Principal Secretaries Prof. Julius Bittok (Basic Education) and Dr. Beatrice Inyangala (Higher Education).