As 2025 KCSE candidates await for the Kenya Universities and Colleges Central Placement Service (KUCCPS) to open application portal, the Kenyan University fund has come out clearly on who will be eligible for scholarship applications. Universities Fund scholarship eligibility KUCCPS 2026.
The University fund through its CEO Monari stated in their website that those students eligible for scholarships must be those who sat KCSE between 2022 and 2025 and must be Kenyan Citizens.
The University Fund further stated that those who will benefit from the fund must be those placed by the Kenya Universities and Colleges Central Placement service to pursue undergraduate, diploma and certificate courses in Universities and Technical and Vocational Training (TVET) Colleges.
“To be eligible for scholarship, one must be a Kenyan Citizen and a candidate who sat for Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education exams starting from 2022 up to 2025,” stated the University Fund in its website.
“KUCCPS must place them to pursue undergraduate, diploma, craft, certificate or artisan courses at one of the Kenya’s accredited universities or TVET colleges,” added the Agency.
This University fund excludes students not citizens of Kenya from accessing it even when they are students enrolled in Kenyan institutions.
Another group of students not eligible for this fund are those admitted in private universities. Even though they won’t get access to scholarships, they are eligible to apply for Higher Education Loans Board (HELB).
The University CEO Edwin Wanyonyi previously announce that they have disbursed Ksh 4.2 billion to all public universities for the financial year 2025/2026. Wanyonyi stated that this money will support the Education of students who recently joined public Universities across the country.
How Will Scholarships be Awarded by University Fund?
The university fund issues scholarships to students depending on how needy the student is.
Officials in charge of the fund applies the Means Testing Instrument (MTI) before funding students to ascertain the level of neediness among students.
Officials managing the fund stated that scholarships to be awarded to students will range from 30 percent and 70 percent of the total fees payable in various courses. The other remaining deficit will be covered by the household contribution and HELB.
Those who will be placed in institutions will be required to place their formal applications via the Higher Education Funding online portal for consideration.
What is the Role KUCCPS in Kenya?
The Kenya Universities and Colleges Central Placement Service (KUCCPS) is mandated with placement of students to Universities, Colleges and TVETs who qualify from KCSE.
The placement body is also mandated with giving guidance to students to help them choose careers and courses based on their performance and interests.
The placement body is also mandated in ensuring fairness by using merit based system for transparent placement.
When will KUCCPS Open Application Portal?
The Kenya Universities and colleges central placement service usually opens application portal between March and May. Students are encouraged to check the official application portal regularly for official announcements. Students should also follow the official social media pages for KUCCPS for credible announcements.
What are Cluster Points and Cut-off Points?
Cluster points are personal points that you scored for a given course. They are calculated using four subjects that are required for the course selected. Your cluster points depends on your overall performance and the cluster subjects. Note that each course has individual cluster points and cluster subjects. For example medicine has a cluster point of 40 with Biology, Chemistry, Mathematics/Physics and Eng/Kiswahili used as cluster subjects.
Cut-off points are the minimum cluster points that are required for you to be admitted into a course. This varies from one year to another dependimg general performance nationally. Cut-off points are set after all students have applied for their preferred courses. For example, medicine might have 42 points this year and 40 next year.
Therefore, cut-off points refer to the required score for admission
How are Cluster Points Calculated?
The Kenya Universities and Colleges Central Placement Service (KUCCPS) uses the formula below to calculate clustre points.
Where S1, S2, S3 and S4= Points from required Cluster subjects where each subject has a maximum of 12 points totaling to 48 points in four subjects.
In simple terms, to calculate for cluster points, pick the four subjects required by the course selected and add your points and standardize them to scale of 48.
Conclusion
When choosing a course, ensure that you calculate your cluster point to ensure that you meet the required points or are higher than the required course points. Ensure that you check the subject requirements for your course. Ensure that when applying for your courses, put those that are most competitive in the first choice with options you deem safe.
Universities Fund scholarship eligibility KUCCPS 2026
