Student loan: NELFund to announce varsities that submitted data on Monday

The Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) has disclosed that the agency will soon announce the list of institutions that have submitted their complete student data for the student verification system (SVS) portal on Monday, June 24, 2024.

Nasir Ayitogo, the spokesman of NELFUND made this known in a statement recently when he explained that the agency publishes the list which will comprise both federal and state institutions.

“It is commendable that many federal institutions have already completed the exercise having been the first wave, whilst the process of uploading the data to NELFUND SVS is currently ongoing for the state-owned institutions,” Ayitogo said.

Ayitogo said this would ensure transparency, and encourage due access and participation in the scheme for all applicants.

He explained that for applicants to be able to access the fund, the individual’s details must feature in the institution’s submitted data set sent to the agency’s SVS, where automatic applicant verification can then occur seamlessly.

“Failure to have this verification would invalidate the application process and disadvantage applicants. It is therefore critical that the information provided by the tertiary institutions is not only complete but also accurate,” he noted.

Meanwhile, President Bola Tinubu has approved the sum of N35 billion for the take-off of the student loan scheme.

Akintunde Sawyerr, the managing director at NELFund, who revealed this, said the funds will be disbursed based on the timetable and calendars of the academic session of each institution.

“The funds will be disbursed based on the timetable and calendars of the academic session of each institution,” he said.

Besides, Sawyerr said that the portal which was rolled off on May 24, will be permanently open because institutions do not have a uniform calendar.

The agency has already approved 70, 000 applications, while another 50, 000 others are currently being evaluated by NELFund, and would be approved within 30 days.

The agency had earlier said over 90 per cent of federal institutions of higher learning have submitted their student’s data to the fund.

NELFund also said it would start receiving applications from students in state-owned tertiary institutions from June 25, 2024.

The loan, which is an equivalent of the tuition fees of the benefitting students, would be paid directly to their institutions.

However, stipends would be paid directly to beneficiaries every month to assist them buy other things that can make them comfortable while pursuing their education.

No fewer than 1.2 million students are expected to benefit from the student loan scheme.

Interested applicants are required to provide their Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) letter, National Identification Number (NIN), and Bank Verification Number (BVN).

President Tinubu on April 3 signed into law the bill on the scheme in line with his electoral promise that no Nigerian student would drop out of school on account of lack of funds.

According to the law, repayment will commence two years after the completion of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) programme.

The ambitious cardinal programme will be funded with one per cent of the total annual collectable revenue by the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS).