The Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) announced on Thursday that its student loan scheme will be available to state-owned tertiary institutions within three weeks.
The announcement comes after the NELFUND portal went live on May 24, initially offering the scheme to students of federal universities, polytechnics, and colleges.
Akintunde Sawyerr, NELFUND’s Managing Director, speaking at a press briefing, stated that since the launch of the scheme, the response has been overwhelming, with over 60,000 students successfully registering on the portal.
“This for us has been an overwhelming response and it serves as a testament to the critical need for financial assistance amongst our student population and we remain committed to addressing this urgent demand,” Sawyerr said.
However, Sawyerr noted that registrations do not necessarily translate to completed applications, adding that only 30,000 of the registered students have successfully applied for the loans.
He also clarified that the second phase of the scheme will extend loans to students attending state-owned institutions, with applications opening on June 25, subject to timely data submission by the institutions.
“We request all state institutions to submit their students’ data immediately in order to facilitate a smooth and seamless application process,” Sawyerr urged.
Sawyerr also disclosed that over 90 percent of federal institutions have submitted their student data to the fund.
“However, we urge the remaining two federal universities and five federal polytechnics to expedite the process to ensure that all eligible students can access financial support, so that we can expand to state-owned tertiary institutions,” he added.
