Freshmen joining universities will know how much funding they will be entitled to under the new formula in August, a month before they are admitted to the institutions.
University Funding (UF) CEO Geoffrey Monari says a needs assessment of all 2022 KCSE candidates who scored C+ and above will be conducted in August after the Kenya Universities and Colleges Central Placement Service completes its placement in mid-July.
UF and the Higher Education Loans Board (HELB) will jointly categorise the applicants into four groups on which the apportioning of scholarships and loans will be based.
The four categories are vulnerable, extremely needy, needy and less needy.
The new formula that will see needy households get more support than those from well-off families will use eight indicators; parents’ background, gender, course type, marginalisation, disability as well as family size and composition.
“We are waiting for KUCCPS to complete the process then we proceed. It will be done in August for one month,” Mr Monari told Business Daily on Thursday.
KUCCPS opened the portal at the start of this month, to allow the 2022 KCSE candidates to revise their courses.
The exercise will be completed in mid-July, setting the stage for UF and Helb to categorise the applicants ahead of their reporting in September.
The categorization will help families know how much they will shoulder financially for the university education of their children in the new funding formula.
The government is under the new formula expected to fully fund vulnerable and extremely needy students who comprise 29 percent of those joining universities and technical and vocational education and training (TVET).
Needy students joining universities will receive government scholarships of up to a maximum of 53 per cent and loans of up to 40 percent and their households will only pay for seven percent of the cost of their university education.
A Means Testing Instrument (MTI) will be applied to scientifically determine the need levels of students where those from rich backgrounds will get more loans than scholarships while the less able will get more scholarships than loans.
By combining the eight variables, the State expects to determine the needs of the various households and fund them appropriately.
Some 173,127 students or 19.9 percent of last year’s KCSE attained C+ and above, making them eligible for degree courses while 213,392 others (24.5 percent) qualified for diploma courses after scoring between C-minus and C.
The formula replaces the differentiated unit cost (DUC) model, where the rich and the poor student receive the same amount.
Under the new funding formula, universities and TVETs will no longer receive block funding in the form of capitation.
The State has increased funding for university education to Sh84.6 billion from Sh54 billion allocated in the financial year starting July as loans and grants to support the new funding formula.
