About 13 128 students have been left out of government student loans for tuition fees, meaning they will have to pay K1.3 million per academic year from their own pockets.
The Higher Education Students’ Loans and Grants Board has provisionally approved 33 258 needy students out of 46 386 applications.
The board has since given applicants who are not satisfied with the outcome of the screening exercise five days from today to appeal.
Malawi Public Universities Students Union president Wesley Malekano welcomed the provisional selection for the 2026/27 loan support, but said there is also a need to consider those left out.
“For many of these students, failure to access financial support could translate into difficulties paying tuition and other education-related costs and in some cases could force them to defer or withdraw from their studies,” he said.
Civil Society Education Coalition executive director Benedicto Kondowe said it is “deeply concerning” that this is happening at a time when public universities have significantly increased tuition fees.
“Access to public universities must not become determined by ability to pay rather than academic merit and need,” he said.
In the 2026/27 Budget, the government allocated K42 billion for student loans and upkeep allowances for 38 000 needy students at public universities before the fees were revised.
