Rwanda to offer University loans to over 16,000 new students
The Government of Rwanda has announced that 16,768 new students will receive loans to pursue higher education in the 2025/26 academic year, under a new policy designed to eliminate the one-year gap students previously spent at home after completing high school.
The reform, implemented this year, allows students to apply for university and higher education programs immediately after national exam results are released, instead of waiting an entire year as was customary.
According to the Higher Education Council (HEC), the new beneficiaries include 12,229 students from the University of Rwanda (UR), 4,472 from Rwanda Polytechnic (RP), and 67 from the Rwanda Institute for Conservation Agriculture (RICA).
Because of the new system, the number of students receiving government-backed study loans increased significantly — up from 11,789 in 2024/25.
At that time, 73.1% of beneficiaries were enrolled in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) disciplines, while 26.9% studied non-STEM programs.
For the 2025/26 academic year, 11,135 students (66.7%) will pursue STEM-related programs, and 5,633 (33.3%) will be in non-STEM fields.
HEC explained that the reform aims to ensure a seamless academic transition for students, minimizing the risk of losing motivation or dropping out during the waiting period.
The change also led to a 39.2% increase in the education budget, with Rwf 17.7 billion now allocated for student loan financing.
HEC Director General Dr. Edward Kadozi told The New Times that the reform was essential to maintaining learning momentum and addressing challenges caused by the former system.
“Admitting two cohorts at once was a solution for the Ministry of Education and the Government as a whole,” said Dr. Kadozi. “It addressed the issue of students spending a year idle after finishing secondary school — a gap that often led to discouragement and dropouts.”
He added that the new approach also supports the Ministry of Health’s plan to quadruple the number of healthcare professionals by 2028, aligning with the World Health Organization’s (WHO) recommendation of having at least four healthcare workers per 1,000 citizens — up from the current ratio of one per 1,000 in Rwanda.
