NELFUND: A Student Loan Or Burden?

For some Nigerian students, applying for a student loan has become a decision fraught with anxiety. Beyond the question of how to pay their school fees, they must weigh another possibility: could seeking financial assistance expose them to administrative complications, academic setbacks or additional expenses?

Against the backdrop of rising education costs, the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND), introduced under President Bola Tinubu’s administration, was designed to ease the financial burden on eligible students struggling to fund their education.

The student loan legislation was signed into law by President Tinubu on April 3, 2024, while the application portal opened for its initial pilot phase on May 24, 2024.

The initiative offered hope to students whose financial circumstances threatened their access to higher education. Yet, for some beneficiaries, experiences involving payment confirmation, application processing and academic records have raised questions about whether the relief comes without complications.

Their concerns reveal a dilemma: when a programme intended to make education more accessible becomes associated with uncertainty, students who need financial assistance may begin to see borrowing as a risk rather than an opportunity.

At what cost?

For a student loan scheme to inspire confidence, providing funds is only part of the responsibility. Applications must be processed efficiently, institutions must maintain accurate records, payments must be properly reconciled, and complaints must be resolved without unnecessarily disrupting students’ academic progress.

Where these processes break down, the consequences can extend beyond financial inconvenience. Students may become uncertain about registration, examination eligibility or the release of their results. Even when the underlying problem is administrative, the uncertainty can weigh heavily on those whose academic progress depends on timely resolution.

For Pat Madueke, a student at an undisclosed university, an experience with NELFUND in 200 level was enough to discourage another application and leave a ripple effect.

Pat said he applied alongside several departmental colleagues, hoping the loan would ease the burden of paying school fees. Instead, the process proved stressful, and he still had to pay some money despite applying for the scheme.

The difficulties, according to Pat, became more worrying when examination results were released. Some students, including him, who had applied for the loan could not find their results alongside those of colleagues whose parents had paid their fees.

Now at the 400 level, Pat said he is still rewriting courses taken at the 200 level because their results have not been released alongside those of other students.

“I still have one 200-level exam to rewrite because of this issue,” Pat said.

For Pat, the consequences were not limited to the uncertainty surrounding the results. Preparing to retake the affected examinations also meant additional expenses, including buying textbooks again and making fresh preparations for the courses.

The experience ultimately shaped the student’s decision to avoid NELFUND at the 300-level.

Rather than risk a repeat of the earlier difficulties, Pat joined others who took up cooking jobs at events and saved their earnings towards school fees. But the work was irregular, and the student said no such opportunity had come in the current academic year, leaving the 400-level fees unsettled.

“Due to the NELFUND scare, I did not register for NELFUND in my 300 level. Honestly, the NELFUND experience has been stressful and discouraging because of what we went through, and I don’t think anyone in my department will apply for it anymore. NELFUND is a big no-no for me,” Pat said.

Pat’s account illustrates how an experience in one academic session can influence a student’s financial decisions in subsequent years. However, establishing whether the loan process directly caused the missing results, and identifying where responsibility lies, would require confirmation from the university and NELFUND.

Varsity students speak

Pat’s experience is not the only reason some students are hesitant to apply. For others, the concern is less about a problem they have personally encountered and more about the possibility of becoming trapped between the fund and their institutions if their records or payments are not properly reconciled.

Anita Eben, a 300-level student of the University of Abuja, said uncertainty over institutional confirmation was a major concern.

“What scares me is what happens when NELFUND says it has approved your application, but your university has not confirmed it. I have seen students run from one office to another trying to resolve issues with their fees. Some become worried about whether they will be allowed to sit their examinations. I cannot risk putting my academics,” Eben said.

For Agnes Thomas, a 400-level student at Nasarawa State University, the possibility of payment-related complications raises concerns about the time and energy students could lose resolving administrative issues.

“I know students who applied because they could not afford their fees, but later had problems getting their payments confirmed by the school. They spent time trying to sort out the issue instead of concentrating on their studies. Even if the loan is meant to help, I am afraid that a problem with confirmation could delay my registration or affect my academic activities,” Thomas said.

The concern is not simply whether a loan will be approved, but what happens after approval if the institution’s records do not reflect the expected payment.

Sa’adat Ahmed, a sociology student at the Federal University of Lokoja, said the uncertainty over which party would take responsibility in such circumstances was enough to make the student consider other ways of raising school fees.

“If NELFUND says it has paid and the university says it has not received or confirmed the money, who takes responsibility? I may not know which office to approach or how long it will take to resolve the issue. I would rather find another way to pay my fees than have my studies suffer because of a problem I cannot control,” Ahmed said.

For students in this position, avoiding the loan does not necessarily mean they can comfortably afford their fees. It may simply reflect their preference for a financial difficulty they understand over a process whose potential complications they fear they cannot control.

That presents a challenge for a scheme intended to expand access to higher education: the students who most need financial assistance may be among those most reluctant to seek it if they lack confidence in how problems will be handled.

The big twist

While some students are steering clear of NELFUND, a controversy at the Enugu State College of Education (Technical), Enugu, raised a different question: what happens when students who would rather not borrow are directed to apply for the loan?

An internal memorandum dated October 6, 2026, and signed by the college’s Registrar, Patrick A. Aneke, directed fresh and returning students in its Nigeria Certificate in Education (NCE) and degree programmes to enrol for and access NELFUND for the 2026/2027 academic session.

The memo instructed students to visit the college’s NELFUND Desk Officer, Dr Rufina Agu, for assistance with their applications. It also directed deans, directors, heads of academic departments and the Student Union Government to communicate the directive to students.

The controversy intensified following reports that students who failed to comply could encounter difficulties obtaining examination clearance. The memo was reported to require evidence of NELFUND registration before students could sit their examinations.

The directive appeared to place students in a difficult position, particularly those whose families preferred to pay their fees directly or who had reservations about taking on a loan.

NELFUND subsequently clarified that participation in the scheme was voluntary, not compulsory.

According to the fund, compelling students who do not need financial assistance to take loans would defeat the programme’s purpose.

“The objective is not to encourage every student to borrow, but to ensure that every eligible Nigerian student who genuinely needs financial assistance has the opportunity to access it,” NELFUND said.

The clarification underscores the distinction between making financial assistance available and requiring students to take it. While institutions have a responsibility to inform eligible students about funding opportunities, the fund’s position is that students should not be compelled to borrow.

The episode also raises questions about how institutions communicate loan requirements, distinguish registration from actual borrowing, and ensure that administrative directives do not undermine students’ ability to make informed financial decisions.

Who bears the responsibility for inefficiency?

Beyond the immediate concerns over applications and payments, the experiences described by students point to the need for clearer accountability among NELFUND, participating institutions and beneficiaries.

Speaking with LEADERSHIP, lawyer and analyst Hassan Dotun said universities and colleges must maintain accurate student records, verify applications and reconcile payments.

“Students need accessible channels through which they can report discrepancies and obtain explanations when problems occur. When incomplete or inaccurate institutional documentation contributes to a problem, students should not be left uncertain about their academic status while the relevant parties resolve the issue.

“However, responsibility must be established through evidence rather than assumed from a student’s experience alone,” he said.

Dotun said NELFUND also needed to clarify the respective responsibilities of the fund and participating institutions, explain how beneficiaries could escalate complaints, and ensure that students understood the steps to take when discrepancies arose.

“Universities and colleges, in turn, need to communicate clearly about fee payments, examination eligibility and the handling of loan beneficiaries’ academic records. Students who are uncertain about repayment obligations also need accessible explanations of the loan terms before deciding whether to apply,” he added.

The challenge, therefore, extends beyond encouraging students to use the scheme. Confidence will depend on whether the process is transparent, whether payment and academic records are properly reconciled, and whether students can obtain timely answers when something goes wrong.