The Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) has announced a new policy that will tie the disbursement of student upkeep loans strictly to the academic calendar of each institution.
In a statement issued on Thursday by its Director of Corporate Communications, Oseyemi Oluwatuyi, the Fund explained that students will only receive upkeep loans during their active academic session. Once an institution’s academic year ends, upkeep payments for that session will automatically stop.
“Students shall only be entitled to upkeep loans for their current academic session. Upon the conclusion of an institution’s academic year, upkeep payments for that session shall automatically cease,” the statement read.
This means students moving into a new academic year will not continue to receive upkeep disbursements for the previous one. Instead, applicants will be required to apply for a fresh loan at the beginning of every session in order to qualify for both tuition and upkeep for that year.
To support this change, Oluwatuyi said the NELFUND loan portal is being upgraded to reflect the new structure. The platform will now show only the upkeep loans collected by each student within the relevant session. He also urged institutions to promptly upload their academic calendars and sessional details so that their students can access the full benefits of the scheme.
Apart from paying tuition fees directly to schools, the loan scheme provides beneficiaries with a monthly upkeep allowance of ₦20,000 amounting to ₦240,000 annually. However, with the new directive, the monthly payments will only run while schools are in session and will be suspended during holidays.
