Study abroad6 min read
How to check a study abroad agent or scholarship before you pay
The Draimo team
Short answer
Before you pay anyone, check three things: that the agent is licensed (in Kenya, on the Commission for University Education's list), that the scholarship or fee appears on the university's own official pages, and that any payment goes to the university's bank account as published there. Draimo can do the second and third checks in one question. A guarantee of admission, pressure to pay quickly, or a request to pay a person are all signs of a scam.
Try it in Draimo
Check an offer against the university's own pages
- Does the University of Manchester offer a scholarship for Kenyan undergraduates? Show me the official page.
- How does KTH say tuition fees must be paid, and to which account?
- University lookup
- For more than a hundred top universities, Draimo reads the official website of the one you are aiming for and shows you the page.
- Every plan
- Agent Mode
- Searches the live web, reads the pages, and cites every one. Use it to compare universities or read a government page.
- Monthly and yearly plans
- Files
- Attach a PDF, Word file, slides or a photo and ask about it.
- One file per message on every plan; several at once on paid plans
Warning signs
- A guarantee of admission, a scholarship or a visa. Nobody outside the university or embassy can promise these.
- A fee to apply for a scholarship. Real scholarships do not charge you to apply.
- Pressure: an offer that expires today, a place that will go to someone else.
- Payment to a personal account, a mobile money number, or through a link sent in a message.
- An email from a free address, or a website that is not the university's own domain.
Checking in Kenya
The Commission for University Education (CUE) licenses student recruitment agencies and publishes the list. In January 2026 it named 20 agencies it said were operating illegally, and 16 institutions not authorised to operate as universities. Degrees from unauthorised institutions are not recognised in Kenya.
Checking a university or scholarship anywhere
Pick the university in Draimo and ask whether the scholarship exists, what the deposit is, or how fees are paid. Draimo reads the university's official website and shows you the page. If the official site does not mention the scholarship, Draimo says so, and you should treat it as not real until the admissions office confirms it by email from its own domain.
Got the offer as a PDF or a screenshot? Attach it and ask Draimo what it claims, then compare it with the university's own page.
If you have already paid
Report it to the police and, in Kenya, to the CUE. Tell the university's admissions office, which may already know of the scam. Keep every message and receipt.
Questions people ask
- Do real scholarships charge an application fee?
- No. A scholarship that asks you to pay to apply, or to pay to release your award, is almost certainly a scam.
- Where can I check if an education agent in Kenya is licensed?
- On the Commission for University Education's list of licensed student recruitment agencies.
Sources we checked
- CUE: licensed student recruitment agencies
- Kenyans.co.ke: CUE lists unauthorised institutions (January 2026)
Checked 30 September 2026. Dates and amounts change every year. Draimo reads the current pages when you ask.
Check a scholarship or a fee against the university's own pages before you pay anyone.
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