The Nigerian Education Loan Fund has announced that upkeep loan disbursements will now be strictly tied to the academic calendars of institutions.
This was disclosed in a statement on Thursday by NELFUND’s Director of Corporate Communications, Oseyemi Oluwatuyi.
“In line with this directive, 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. Consequently, students who transition into a new academic year will no longer receive upkeep disbursements for the preceding session,” the statement read.
NELFUND added that loan applicants must apply at the start of each academic session to qualify for both institutional charges and upkeep for that period.
“To ensure accuracy and transparency, the NELFUND loan portal is being automated to reflect this adjustment. The portal will henceforth display only the upkeep loans accessed by each student within the relevant session.
“Institutions are therefore strongly advised to upload their academic calendars and sessional information in a timely manner to guarantee that their students receive the full upkeep benefits due to them for an entire academic year,” it stated.
Currently, in addition to tuition payments made directly to institutions, beneficiaries of the loan scheme receive a monthly upkeep allowance of N20,000, amounting to N240,000 annually. With the new policy, however, students will only receive the monthly stipends during academic sessions, with payments suspended during holidays.
