Treasury Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi has said the government plans to increase funding for higher education loans in the 2026/27 financial year as part of efforts to make university education more affordable.

Speaking during a Kiambu County public engagement forum on Sunday, February 1, 2026, Mbadi said feedback from students had already influenced proposals in the Budget Policy Statement (BPS) and the upcoming national budget.

He told the forum that the government intends to raise allocations to the Higher Education Loans Board (HELB) from the current Ksh41 billion to Ksh58 billion in the next financial year.

“Just to give you assurance and confidence that our engagement here is not an academic exercise, even before we progress further with the budget process, I can tell you that some of the feedback we are getting from engaging with students is already finding its way into our BPS and the budget for 2026/27,” Mbadi said.

He explained that funding concerns raised by students had informed the proposed increase in both loans and scholarships.

“Most of the concerns that students have raised regarding funding have led us to propose an enhancement of higher education loans from the current Ksh41 billion to Ksh58 billion in the next financial year,” he said.

Mbadi added that the scholarship programme would also receive a major boost, with allocations set to rise from Ksh16 billion to about Ksh34 billion.

“That means these two budget lines will move from around Ksh57 billion to Ksh92 billion,” he said.

According to the Treasury CS, the proposed increases reflect the government’s intention to invest more in education and reduce the cost burden on students and their families.

“This is a demonstration that we want to put more resources towards educating our youth and make education cheaper even at that level,” Mbadi said.

He also addressed ongoing concerns about capitation for secondary schools, acknowledging that government support for high school students has been insufficient.

“Even today’s papers have raised concerns that capitation is not adequate, and I agree. We have been underfunding our students in high schools, and this is something we are addressing, even with the constrained financial space that we have,” he said.

Reforms drive funding boost

Mbadi noted that the government had taken into account feedback calling for stronger financial support systems and reforms in student funding.

“We have noted valuable feedback, including strengthening financial support for student funding. That is why we are talking about financing and reforming student loans,” he said.

He added that the government had already changed how higher education is funded, moving away from older models.

“We have reformed the way we fund higher education learning from how it used to be, and we are now looking at course-focused funding,” Mbadi said.

The proposed increase builds on earlier government measures to support university and TVET students. In July 2025, the Ministry of Education increased HELB funding from Ksh36 billion to Ksh41 billion for the 2025/26 academic year.

Education Cabinet Secretary Julius Migos Ogamba said at the time that the increase aimed to ensure that no student was left behind due to financial constraints.

“To ensure no student is left behind, the Government increased HELB’s annual funding from Ksh36 billion to Ksh41 billion,” Ogamba said.

The Ministry of Education also confirmed that HELB and the Universities Fund had begun disbursing funds to students and institutions under the Student-Centred Funding Model.

Mbadi said the government intends to expand these efforts in the 2026/27 budget, subject to parliamentary approval.