Kenya’s Higher Education Loans Board (HELB) is once again in the spotlight for a dire financial shortfall that threatens to derail the education of over 163,000 students in universities and Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) institutions. Facing a Ksh 13.7 billion deficit in the 2024/25 financial year, the HELB crisis has taken another turn as the agency warns that thousands of students could be forced to defer or drop out of school due to the unavailability of tuition support.
In a bold move to improve loan recovery rates, HELB is now lobbying for access to personal data from the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) and the National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA). The idea is to track down loan defaulters, some of whom, the agency claims, own vehicles but have yet to repay their student loans. The proposal has ignited heated public debate about privacy, data access, accountability, and the sustainability of Kenya’s student financing framework.
HELB Crisis And Data Access Wish List – KRA and NTSA
HELB’s request is based on an operational reality: it is owed billions by former students who benefited from its loans but have not repaid. By accessing KRA tax returns and NTSA vehicle registration data, the agency hopes to profile defaulters who might be in gainful employment or own high-value assets like vehicles but continue to ignore their repayment obligations.
According to HELB CEO Charles Ringera, there are instances where graduates are living affluent lifestyles, including purchasing vehicles, while making no effort to honor their loan agreements. “We have cases where individuals are registered with NTSA as car owners and KRA as taxpayers, yet they haven’t remitted a single cent of their HELB repayment,” Ringera said during a recent media engagement. “We believe this data will help us hold them accountable.”
Ringera argues that the agency already uses basic data-matching strategies to identify employers and track beneficiaries but lacks real-time access to more detailed asset and income declarations that can significantly improve loan recovery.
While the intention is clear, the proposal raises questions about legal boundaries. Can an education fund legally tap into confidential taxpayer and motor vehicle ownership data? Would such a move violate data protection laws, or is it justified under the umbrella of public interest and national development?
HELB Crisis Rooted On Previous Budget Cuts and Broken Promises?
The HELB crisis not new. For years, the agency has operated under tight budgetary constraints, often disbursing far less than what students apply for. In FY2022/23, the agency requested over Ksh 22 billion from the National Treasury but received just about Ksh 15 billion. This shortfall forced HELB to ration funds, slashing the average loan disbursement to about Ksh 37,000 per student annually, far below the actual cost of tuition, accommodation, and upkeep in most institutions.
In 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic, HELB announced delays in loan disbursement due to reduced loan repayments. Many graduates had lost jobs or were underemployed, causing a Ksh 4.7 billion collection shortfall. The crisis exposed how vulnerable the agency is to economic disruptions and how heavily it depends on recoveries to finance future loans.
In the past, HELB’s appeals for Treasury bailouts or enhanced budgetary allocations have yielded inconsistent results. The agency often finds itself at the mercy of the fiscal cycle, with education funding falling further down the priority list in the face of competing needs like infrastructure, healthcare, and debt repayment.
HELB Has Been A Lifeline for the Needy and the Engine of Social Mobility
Since its inception in 1995, HELB has funded over 1.3 million students across the country and disbursed more than Ksh 124 billion in student loans. For thousands of first-generation university students, HELB has been a ticket out of poverty, a rare bridge between marginalisation and opportunity.
Some of Kenya’s most prominent leaders, professionals, and business executives were HELB beneficiaries. Former Chief Justice David Maraga has publicly acknowledged that HELB made his legal education possible. Other notable figures include ICT Cabinet Secretary Eliud Owalo, renowned media personality and lawyer Julie Gichuru, and Dr. Patrick Amoth, the Director-General of Health, all of whom are products of institutions where HELB played a pivotal role in their academic journeys.
But despite its noble mission, HELB has become increasingly constrained. Mounting default rates, political interference, ballooning student numbers, and inconsistent funding have weakened its capacity to sustainably serve students.
The Burden of Defaults Has Deepened HELB Crisis
HELB’s loan recovery dilemma is one of the key contributors to its financial instability. Out of the Ksh 124 billion disbursed since inception, only about Ksh 55 billion has been recovered. As of 2024, the agency estimates that over Ksh 15 billion is outstanding from defaulters, many of whom are believed to be either self-employed, in the informal sector, or working abroad.
The agency has tried various strategies to improve recoveries: from issuing threats of listing defaulters with credit bureaus, offering amnesty periods, and collaborating with employers for check-off systems. However, these measures have had mixed results. While some recovery spikes were observed during amnesty campaigns, like the 2022 waiver window that saw Ksh 500 million collected, the gains are often temporary.
Ringera says the agency needs a legislative overhaul to mandate more robust data-sharing and enforce stricter penalties for non-compliance. “We cannot continue running a revolving fund where people receive but don’t return. The system will collapse,” he warned.
Can The New Higher Education Financing Model Solve The HELB Crisis?
Under the current administration of President William Ruto, the government introduced a new university funding model in 2023 that was meant to revolutionize how public university students are supported. The model, dubbed the “needs-based funding approach,” separates scholarships (grants) from loans and allocates aid based on household income.
While this shift was aimed at targeting the most vulnerable, the rollout has been chaotic. Reports of misclassification, delayed disbursements, and confusion among students and parents have marred implementation. HELB was repositioned to play a greater role in disbursing loans under this new model, but without the financial muscle, the agency is once again on the brink.
Moreover, with the rising costs of higher education and thousands of new students joining universities annually, HELB’s purse is being stretched to breaking point.
Can Reforms Help HELB?
Experts argue that Kenya must fundamentally reimagine how it finances higher education to ensure both access and sustainability. One of the proposals gaining traction is the ring-fencing of HELB loan repayments, ensuring that all funds recovered from beneficiaries are channelled directly into a dedicated student revolving fund rather than being absorbed into the government’s Consolidated Fund. This would create a more predictable and autonomous financial base for the agency.
Another idea is the introduction of a graduate income tax, whereby employed graduates would automatically remit a fixed percentage of their salaries toward student loan repayment. This model, already in use in countries like the UK and Australia, is seen as both efficient and equitable, particularly in a context where many borrowers work in the informal sector and are hard to trace.
Public-private partnerships have also been floated as a viable alternative, with the government potentially working alongside commercial banks and development partners to co-finance student loans. In such arrangements, the state could offer guarantees to minimise the risks borne by financial institutions, thereby unlocking new capital for higher education financing.
Additionally, there is growing support for expanding subsidies to Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) institutions. By increasing direct government funding to these institutions, the pressure on HELB’s limited resources could be eased, especially since TVET enrollment is rising under the government’s skills-based development agenda.
HELB itself has proposed the establishment of a specialized student loan recovery unit with investigative powers and real-time access to critical public databases, modeled after agencies like the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) or the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC). Such a unit, the agency argues, would significantly enhance its ability to trace, audit, and recover outstanding loans from elusive defaulters.
What If HELB Gets Its Way In Accessing KRA And NTSA Data?
While the proposal to access NTSA and KRA data seems logical from a fiscal recovery standpoint, civil rights organizations and digital privacy advocates are raising red flags. The Office of the Data Protection Commissioner (ODPC) has indicated that HELB would need to provide a compelling legal basis for accessing sensitive taxpayer or vehicle ownership data.
“This kind of data sharing must be anchored in law, proportional, and based on legitimate interest,” said a senior ODPC official. “The principle of purpose limitation means HELB can’t just fish for data because someone owns a car.”
The conversation has spilt over to social media, with young Kenyans divided between defending the agency’s need to recover loans and protesting what they see as a “surveillance culture.” For many, the larger issue is the lack of decent job opportunities, not unwillingness to pay.
As HELB Crisis Deepens, What Happens Next?
With its current deficit, this HELB crisis is one of its most precarious moments in history. The sustainability of the agency and the futures of thousands of students now hinge on decisive action from Parliament, Treasury, and the Education Ministry. Whether it is through increased funding, legal reforms, improved recovery frameworks, or partnerships with the private sector, one thing is clear: Kenya must protect and modernise its student financing system.
As one third-year student from Maseno University lamented during a recent protest: “If HELB fails, dreams die.”
And that is no exaggeration. From classrooms in Turkana to lecture halls in Nairobi, HELB remains not just a fund, but a lifeline. Ensuring its survival, and doing so with respect for human rights and public accountability, should be a national imperative. Strategic approaches will be key to averting a future HELB crisis.
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