About 28,883 students from both public and private universities have been provisionally approved by the Higher Education Students Loans and Grants Board to access academic loans for the 2024/2025 academic year.

Henry Chingaipe, Chairperson for Loans and Grants Disbursement committee at the Loans Board, said this approval rate represents 99.9 percent of total applicants, a 10 percent increase compared to last year’s approvals.

The Board has budgeted K29 billion for this academic year. Of this amount, the government has allocated K24 billion in the current national budget, with an additional K4 billion expected during the mid year budget review in Parliament.

The remaining funds are expected to be sourced from various channels, including the World Bank-funded Skills for a Vibrant Economy (SAVE) project.