The Higher Education Loans Board (HELB) in Kenya has implemented a new Higher Education Funding (HEF) model, utilizing a Means Testing Instrument (MTI) to determine student loan amounts based on financial need, with different bands dictating the level of scholarship and loan support.

• The MTI assesses financial factors like household income, dependents, and location to place students into one of five bands.
• Students in Band 1, with an average household monthly income up to Ksh5,995, receive a 70 percent scholarship, a 25 percent HELB loan, and an upkeep loan of Ksh60,000.
• Government support ranges from a total of 95 percent for Band 1 students (70 percent scholarship, 25 percent loan) to 60 percent for Band 5 students (30 percent scholarship, 30 percent loan).
• The loan portion of funding must be repaid after studies, but the scholarship portion does not.