•HELB has disbursed over Sh90 billion to 824,000 students.
•Only 213, 193 people have completed repaying Sh21.3 billion.
Close to half a million students who ought to be paying their Helb loans have not started denying the financier Sh52 billion.
HELB has loaned more than Sh90 billion to 824,000 needy students since its inception 24 years ago.
A total 213, 193 beneficiaries had paid HELB Sh21.3 billion by January 31, but 438, 247 others who ought to be paying Sh52.6 billion have not started.
The Higher Education Loans Board has appealed to its past beneficiaries holding billions of shillings to immediately start repayment to enable it loan to others.
CEO Charles Ringera said this will assist Helb to increase the number of students funded and the amount loaned to each.
Some 156,961 who owe Sh24.7 billion are repaying. The agency says 68,093 beneficiaries have defaulted repayment of Sh6.6 billion.
On Friday Ringera said the agency has received a total of 870 applications in the last two months. Out of these, 121 want will undertake postgraduate diploma courses.
The applicants should benefit from minimum Sh50,000 and maximum Sh100,000 per year.
Speaking during the signing of an MoU with Kenya Institute of Management and the College of Human Resources management Ringera challenged the institutions of higher education to partner with Helb to run revolving education funds thereby providing their students with easier access to financing.