Student loan: NELFUND to unveil schools with complete data June 24

The Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) has said it would publish the full list of institutions that have submitted their complete student data as requested by the agency for upload onto the NELFUND Student Verification System to allow for transparency.

NELFUND said on Thursday that the list would be published on June 24, 2024. The publication of the list would also encourage due access and participation in the scheme, of both undergraduate applicants and the tertiary institutions involved.

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Nasir Ayetogo, head of media, NELFUND, in a statement, said, “It is commendable that many federal institutions have already completed the exercise, whilst the process of uploading the data to NELFUND SVS is currently ongoing for state-owned institutions

‘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 NELFUND 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,” the Fund said.

President Bola Tinubu, on April 3, signed the Student Loans (Access to Higher Education) Act (Repeal and Re-Enactment) Bill, 2024, into law.

The assent was sequel to the separate considerations by both the Senate and the House of Representatives of the report of the committee on tertiary institutions and the tertiary education trust fund.

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The executive bill titled, ‘A bill for an Act to repeal the Students Loans (Access to Higher Education) Act, 2023 and Enact the Student Loans (Access to Higher Education) Bill, 2004 to Establish the Nigerian Education Loan Fund, as a body to receive, manage and invest funds to provide loans to Nigerians for higher education, vocational training and skills acquisition and related matters,’ was signed in the presence of the leadership of the National Assembly, ministers and major stakeholders of education.

The Act empowers the Nigeria Education Loan Fund to provide loans to qualified Nigerian students for tuition, fees, charges and upkeep during their studies in approved public tertiary institutions and vocational and skills acquisition establishments in the country.