Background

In 1963, the National University of Rwanda (NUR) was established. Since then, the number of students attending higher education at this University was kept low. The Government fully met the cost of study including tuition, stipend, research, etc. As years went by and with the increasing demand for higher education, the Government became increasingly unable to sorely meet the full cost of study.

In early 1980's, a policy on sharing the cost of education between the student and the Government was introduced. Students who studied at the National University of Rwanda signed loan agreements indicating various options of how these loans will be paid back to Government; including paying back the loan by serving for the public sector for at least five (5) years after graduation and paying back in cash by deducting from the monthly salary. However, since the 1980's, there had never been a fully-fledged and efficient mechanism for the disbursement and especially the recovery of the loans.

After 1994, a number of public and private higher learning institutions were established thus increasing the number of Rwandans entering higher education. To-date, over 44,000 students are enrolled in higher education, slightly over 16,000 students receive some form of Government financial subsidization. A lot more students are probably unable to access higher education because they cannot afford on their own to fund their studies.

On July 29th 2003 the Government officially approved the establishment of Student Financing Agency for Rwanda (SFAR). The Law (law no 50/2006 dated 05/10/2006) establishing and determining the responsibilities, organization and functioning of SFAR was adopted by the Parliament and published in the official gazette on December 15, 2006. SFAR is mandated to introduce and implement a student loan scheme. The law in its Article 5 and 6 refer to the Presidential and Ministerial Orders that specify the mechanism of granting a bursary, granting and recovering the loans and sharing the cost between the student or parent on one hand and the Government on another. These Orders also provide for the establishment of the Procedure Manuel detailing the loan mechanism and regulating the operations of SFAR. These have been drafted, reviewed by relevant organs and approved.

SFAR is to-date operating as a Government autonomous agency under the Ministry of Education. It has the mandate, the annual budget allocation, offices, equipment, staff, management and the Board of Directors. The Board composition is seven (7) members. The management of SFAR is divided into four (4) Units/Departments.

As a pretty new Government agency, a lot has been achieved but more is yet to be achieved including: recovery of the loaned funds, public information and awareness, refining the financial means testing mechanism, establishment of the unit cost for various courses offered at higher learning institutions, etc.