The Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) has announced that it has received over 60,000 applications from students of federal government institutions since the launch of its student loan application portal. Of these, 30,000 applications have been successfully processed, marking a significant milestone in the program’s rollout.
In a recent update, NELFUND highlighted that 90% of federal universities have submitted their student data to its dashboard. However, it noted that 10% of federal institutions have yet to complete their data submissions.
In addition to these developments, NELFUND announced that the portal for submitting data from state-owned tertiary institutions will open in three weeks.
The agency has called on these state institutions to begin preparing their student data for submission to ensure a smooth and timely processing of loan applications.
This initiative follows the enactment of the Access to Higher Education Act, 2023, which was signed into law by President Bola Tinubu on June 12, 2023. The law aims to provide interest-free loans to indigent students for their educational pursuits in any Nigerian tertiary institution.
The implementation of this student loan scheme faced several delays, with the original launch planned for September being postponed indefinitely in early March. The delays were attributed to President Tinubu’s directive to expand the scheme to include loans for vocational skills.
In a recent briefing, the Minister of State for Education, Dr. Yusuf Sununu, informed the President about the progress made by NELFUND. Following the briefing, the President directed that interest-free loans be extended to Nigerian students interested in skill-development programs, highlighting the importance of skill acquisition alongside academic qualifications.
As the student loan scheme continues to gain momentum, NELFUND’s Managing Director, Akintunde Sawyerr, expressed optimism about the future of the program and its potential to support Nigerian students in their educational endeavors.