University freshmen and state funding

According to Geoffrey Monari, CEO of University Funding, a needs assessment of all 2022 KCSE applicants who scored C+ and above would be undertaken in August after the Kenya Universities and Colleges Central Placement Service completes its placement in mid-July.
UF and the Higher Education Loans Board will jointly categorize applicants into four groups on which scholarships and loans will be distributed. The four categories are vulnerable, extremely needy, needy, and less needy.
The new model will utilize eight characteristics to determine whether poor households receive more assistance than well-off households, including parents’ background, gender, course type, marginalization, handicap, and family size and composition.
“We are waiting for KUCCPS to finish the process before proceeding.” It will be completed in August for one month,” Mr Monari told Business Daily on Thursday.
KUCCPS launched the platform earlier this month to allow 2022 KCSE candidates to review their courses. The process will be completed in mid-July, allowing UF and Helb to categorize the candidates ahead of their September reporting.
The classification will assist families in determining how much financial responsibility they will bear for their children’s university education under the new funding model.
The government expects to fully pay vulnerable and highly needy students, who make up 29% of those enrolled in universities and technical and vocational education and training (TVET) programs, under the new model.
Needy students attending universities will receive government scholarships of up to 53% and loans of up to 40%, with their families covering only 7% of the cost of their education.
A Means Testing Instrument (MTI) will be used to scientifically identify the need levels of students, with those from wealthy homes receiving more loans than scholarships and those from less privileged families receiving more scholarships than loans.
The State aims to evaluate the requirements of the individual households and fund them appropriately by integrating the eight criteria.
Some 173,127 students, or 19.9% of those who took the KCSE last year, received C+ or higher, making them eligible for degree programs, while 213,392 others 24.5% qualified for diploma programs with grades ranging from C-minus to C.
The formula is intended to replace the differentiated unit cost  model, in which rich and poor students receive the same amount.
Universities and TVETs would no longer receive block money in the form of capitation under the new funding system.
To complement the new funding mechanism, the State boosted funding for university education to Ksh84.6 billion from Ksh54 billion in the fiscal year beginning July.
Businessdaily