University Funding Applications Short of Target as HELB Deadline Approaches
As the application deadline of September 7 approaches, only 23% of students who had secured placement in degree, diploma, and arts courses have applied for university funding through the Higher Education Funding (HEF) website.
In an interview with the Star published on Tuesday, Higher Education Loans Board (HELB) chief executive Charles Ringera disclosed that the number of applications received has not yet reached 100,000.
Ringera stated that, in terms of planning, they needed a substantial number of students to have submitted their applications. He indicated that at the present moment, they had received a total of 65,000 applications and had observed an influx of 10,000 applications.
Once the government receives a minimum of 100,000 applications, applicants will be notified of the funding category to which they have been assigned, according to Ringera.
Ringera mentioned that by next week, the number of students allocated to different funding categories would be ascertainable, reaching a total of 100,000 applications.
In addition, the head of the Loans Board stated that if an insufficient number of applications are received, the government will extend the application deadline.
Ringera indicated that preparations had been put in place for a potential extension of the deadline. He stated that if the complete set of approximately 265,000 applications had not been received by September 7, an extension of the deadline would certainly be implemented.
Under the new financing model, the government has categorized students seeking funding into four categories: vulnerable, extremely needy, needy, and less needy.
Funding across the four categories will be determined by analyzing family economic backgrounds to ensure that students from low-income households receive priority in terms of scholarship allocation. Those from less-needy households will continue to receive loan financing from HELB.
Any student who did not apply for financial aid prior to the introduction of this new funding paradigm will be required to use the new platform.
University Funding Applications Short of Target as HELB Deadline Approaches