The immediate past President of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Prof. Emmanuel Osodeke, has warned that the unregulated increase in tuition fees across Nigerian universities is worsening student dropouts and discouraging admissions, especially among students from low-income families.

He said the trend threatens the core objectives of the Students’ Loan Act, which was designed to promote equal access to tertiary education regardless of financial status.

Speaking at the 2025 TETFund National Town Hall Meeting in Abuja, Osodeke accused some vice-chancellors of exploiting the student loan scheme to justify arbitrary tuition hikes.

He alleged that some institutions were collecting both the loan funds and tuition payments from students without refunding the excess.

His comments followed The Guardian’s exclusive report in which the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) raised concerns over steep fee increases by some public institutions — ranging from 20 to 521 per cent.

A document obtained from the Fund, titled “Report on Framework to Mitigate the Impact of Increased Institutional Charges on the Fund’s Operations,” revealed that the hikes, particularly in programmes such as Medicine, Nursing, and Law, have imposed heavy financial pressure on students and strained NELFUND’s resources.

The affected universities include the University of Ilesha (Osun State), Ekiti State University, University of Medical Sciences (Ondo), Edo State University, Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (Oyo State), and David Umahi Federal University of Health Sciences (Ebonyi State).

This development comes six months after The Guardian reported that 51 institutions were implicated in illegal deductions and exploitation of the loan scheme.

In July, the paper also revealed that NELFUND had rejected applications from 10 institutions following tuition increases of up to 900 per cent.

Further findings showed that several schools have again raised their fees for the 2025/2026 academic session. The Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta (FUNAAB) increased charges by between 25 and 67 per cent; the Federal University, Oye-Ekiti (FUOYE) by 10 to 120 per cent; and Kogi State Polytechnic by between 115 and over 1,000 per cent.

Osodeke said ASUU’s earlier criticism of the loan policy had now been validated.

He argued that what Nigerian students need are grants, not loans, insisting that the current system would only deepen financial hardship.

“What we said about NELFUND is now being confirmed by NELFUND itself. We warned it would be misused by universities. Now, some institutions are collecting tuition from students and also taking funds from the loan scheme.

“We also said the loan would reduce admissions, not increase them. The survey we are conducting shows that admissions into public universities are already dropping. Only a few students will take loans and remain indebted for years,” he said.

Osodeke lamented that some universities now charge between ₦2 million and ₦3 million in school fees, leaving students with debts exceeding ₦30 million upon graduation.

“How will such a graduate repay that loan? Many may end up taking desperate steps. If we are truly serious, the funds should be converted into grants for the poorest students, not loans that will trap them in debt,” he added.