The Universities Fund is set to release Ksh.4.2 billion in scholarship funding to public universities this week to support continuing students enrolled under the Student-Centred Funding Model (SCFM).
The funds will benefit thousands of students pursuing various academic programmes across public universities in Kenya. According to the Universities Fund, the disbursement forms part of allocations under the 2025/2026 financial year budget.
Acting Chief Executive Officer Dr. Edwin Wanyonyi confirmed that the government has already released significant funds under the new financing structure.
“In the 2025/2026 financial year, the Universities Fund has already disbursed Ksh.8.4 billion in scholarship support,” Dr. Wanyonyi said.
The Student-Centred Funding Model, introduced in 2023, marked a major shift in Kenya’s higher education financing framework. Unlike previous funding structures that directed resources to universities, the SCFM allocates funding directly to students based on their financial need, ensuring that support follows the learner rather than the institution.
Since its introduction, the model has supported 437,648 students, with more than Ksh.37 billion disbursed to fund undergraduate education. The first cohort of students enrolled under the system is expected to graduate next year.
Kenya’s higher education sector has expanded significantly in recent years. The country now has 83 universities, serving a rapidly growing student population. The number of students qualifying for university admission has also risen sharply from 62,581 in 2017 to 270,715 in 2025, representing a 332 percent increase.
However, the surge in enrolment has also created funding pressures, highlighting the importance of sustained government investment in higher education financing.
To qualify for government scholarships, students must be placed in public universities by the Kenya Universities and Colleges Central Placement Service (KUCCPS), have sat the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) examination in 2022 or later, and apply through the Higher Education Financing (HEF) Portal.
The portal typically opens after KUCCPS announces university placement results. Dr. Wanyonyi noted that students who sat the 2025 KCSE examination and meet the minimum university entry grade will also be required to apply through the HEF portal for scholarship consideration.
The latest disbursement follows a technical workshop that brought together registrars and finance officers from public universities to strengthen institutional capacity in managing scholarships under the SCFM.
During the workshop, participants were trained on the Universities Fund Institutional Portal, a standardized digital platform that enables universities to submit, validate, and reconcile student data efficiently.
The initiative is part of broader efforts by the Universities Fund to improve transparency, accountability, and efficiency in the management of higher education financing in Kenya.
