HELB issues notice to students facing HEF portal activation problems

The Higher Education Loans Board (HELB) has issued guidance to students experiencing difficulties activating their accounts on the Higher Education Financing (HEF) Portal.

In a notice on Wednesday, August 5, HELB urged applicants who are yet to receive their HEF Portal activation emails to first check their spam or junk mail folders before seeking further assistance.

According to the agency, activation emails may sometimes be filtered into spam folders by email service providers, causing delays in account activation.

“Still waiting on that HEF Portal activation email? Before you panic, check your Spam or Junk folder-it might already be there,” the notice read in part.

HELB also reminded students that the activation link sent to their email addresses remains valid for only three hours. 

Applicants who fail to activate their accounts within that period are advised to begin the registration process again on the HEF Portal to receive a new activation link.

“Remember, your activation link is only valid for three hours. If it expires, simply register afresh on the HEF Portal,” the notice added.

This comes days after HELB opened applications for Partial Postgraduate Scholarships in the 2026/2027 academic year. 

In a notice on Thursday, July 30, HELB invited eligible students pursuing master’s and PhD studies to apply for the scholarships. 

The board noted that the scholarships are available to Kenyan students enrolled in public and private universities recognized by the Commission for University Education (CUE).

“The Higher Education Loans Board applications for the 2026–2027 Postgraduate partial scholarships are now open.

“Eligible applicants are Kenyan students enrolled for master’s and PhD programs in local Public or Private Universities recognized by the Commission for University Education [CUE],” read the notice. 

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According to HELB, successful master’s applicants will receive a Ksh200,000 scholarship, tenable for two years, while PhD students will receive Ksh450,000, tenable for three years.

To qualify for the scholarship, applicants must have attained at least a Second-Class Upper Division in their undergraduate studies and possess a valid admission letter from a university for a STEM and/or Agriculture-related course.

HELB also mentioned that applicants who previously benefited from its loan programme must either be actively repaying their loans or have fully cleared the outstanding balance before applying.

“If a past HELB loan beneficiary, the applicant must be repaying his/her loan or has cleared the loan,” HELB stated.

Interested postgraduate students are required to complete the 2026/2027 Postgraduate Scholarship Application via www.hef.co.ke and submit it online.

The board said the applicants will be required to pay a non-refundable application fee of Ksh3,000 via the eCitizen platform.

Further, HELB warned prospective applicants against fraudsters claiming to facilitate scholarship applications or guarantee awards of scholarships.

“Beware of fraudsters purporting to represent HELB and charging applicants to either apply on their behalf, fast-track the application or guarantee the award of the scholarship. All processing is automated and is done by HELB,” the notice added.

The deadline for submitting applications for the scholarships is August 31, 2026.

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