The Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) has disbursed N56.85 billion in student loans to 298,124 students across 198 institutions as part of its nationwide rollout of the student loan scheme.
This was disclosed in a status report released by NELFUND highlighting progress made since the loan portal was launched on May 24, 2024, till May 29, 2025.
As of May 23, 2025, the fund had paid a total of N30.17 billion directly to institutions for tuition and N26.67 billion to students as upkeep allowance, bringing the total disbursement to N56.85 billion.
A total of 298,124 students have received financial assistance through the loan scheme.
Number of enrolments
The data further shows that 607,326 students have registered on the portal, out of which 562,556 have applied for loans, representing a 92% application success rate.
- The latest daily update also shows that an additional 1,285 students successfully registered on the platform, while 2,265 successfully submitted loan applications on Tuesday, May 28.
- According to NELFund, a total of 198 institutions have so far benefitted from the programme. These include universities, polytechnics, and colleges of education across the country.
The initiative has reached 298,124 student beneficiaries, marking a significant milestone in the federal government’s plan to expand access to affordable higher education.
What you should know
NELFUND is preparing to expand its student loan programme beyond traditional tertiary institutions to include vocational and skills acquisition centers across Nigeria. The rollout is expected to begin in Enugu State between late June and mid-July 2025.
- This decision followed a strategic engagement and sensitisation campaign held in Enugu with representatives from the Enugu State Government and NELFUND officials.
- The Managing Director of NELFUND, Mr. Akintunde Sawyerr, said the Fund is targeting skills centers nationwide to support technical education in areas such as fashion design and other vocational trades.
- Enugu was selected as a starting point because of the state’s readiness and existing infrastructure, which have been assessed as among the best by NELFUND.
NELFUND also plans to deploy IT teams to integrate directly with institutional portals, to allow students to apply for loans through their school systems instead of visiting NELFUND’s website.
This integration aims to simplify the process and improve accessibility, particularly for students in remote or underfunded areas. Once launched, vocational trainees will be able to access loans that cover training fees based on the proposal submitted by each centre.
