The study uses generalised least squares (GLS), descriptive, phenomenological and mixed methods to examine the effects of higher education (HE) loans on tertiary education enrolment in India, Ghana, Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda. The data sets employed in the empirical analyses were obtained from the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), India Educational Statistics, the Ghana Ministry of Education, the Kenya Higher Education Loan Board, the Student Loan Financing Board of Tanzania and the Uganda Ministry of Education and Sports. The paper examines the HE student loan schemes introduced and implemented in Ghana, India, Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda through commercial banks, public banks or governments along with their respective effects on higher education enrolment. Empirical results show that boosting higher education is a student loan phenomenon. Meanwhile, in the last two decades, student loan schemes performed better in India, Ghana, Kenya, and Tanzania than in Uganda. To become as successful as India in implementing the HE student loan scheme and improve HE enrolment, the paper suggests that the Government of Uganda must formulate a more comprehensive education loan scheme in consultation with the Bank of Uganda and other banks in Uganda.