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

Henry Chingaipe, Chairperson for the Loans Board, made the announcement on Tuesday during a press briefing.

He said the approval rate represents 99.9 percent of total applicants, a 10 percent increase compared to last year’s approvals.

Chingaipe said the Board has budgeted K29 billion for this academic year out of which K24 billion has been allocated in the current national budget, with an additional K4 billion expected during the mid-year budget review in Parliament.