HELB Loans: An estimated figure of 75,000 first year students across the country finally heave a sigh of relief as the Higher Education Loans Board disburses pending loans to university and college students. The state-formed statutory department formed under a parliamentary act finally announced.
This comes after a month since HELB acknowledged that they did not have the capacity to swiftly disburse the loans. Bright students from all over the country mostly those coming from humble backgrounds raised a national outcry as they tackled financial problems such as payment of fees and daily up-keep while in school.
Executives from HELB told the National assembly that they were struggling under the weight of defaulted loans by students previously, who also came from struggling economic backgrounds. On March 2nd 2022, HELB announced that the number of defaulters increased to 109,661 as the total loans due accumulated to 10.9 Billion.
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This marked an increase in defaulters’ numbers from 106,443 students; a 2.9% increase. Embakasi Member of National Assembly gave HELB a one week ultimatum which pressurized the statutory body to release the funds.
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The agency said that they were waiting for the national treasury to disburse funds amounting to 3 Billion to process the loan applications by college and university students. Currently, HELB has disbursed all loans pending. Speaking to the Business daily, HELB CEO Charles Ringera said
“We are now left with colleges and Universities opening in April from their long breaks.”
To check HELB loan status
- Visit HELB website
- Click on ‘loan status’
- Click on ‘disbursement’ – a form indicating your loan status will appear
- You can check the amount awarded and the date disbursed.
You can check your loan disbursement status through your bank account that you used during first time application. Students with HELB Smart card can use it to check their loan disbursement status via their bank ATM.
Remember that the smart card has 3 parts; tuition, upkeep and general use. Amount in the tuition part cannot be withdrawn.
