The Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) has disbursed N372.62billion in student loans to 1,659,853 beneficiaries across 319 tertiary institutions since the launch of its student loan scheme in May 2024.

The latest Student Loan Disbursement Report, generated on October 30, 2026, showed that the Fund had paid N192.89billion directly to beneficiary institutions to cover students’ tuition fees, while N179.73billion was disbursed as upkeep allowances.

The figures represent cumulative disbursements since the launch of the NELFUND student loan portal on May 24, 2024.

The report also showed that the Fund had received 2,330,263 applications since inception, indicating sustained interest in the Federal Government’s initiative to expand access to higher education by providing financial support to students.

A breakdown of the figures showed that institutional fee payments accounted for more than half of the total disbursement, with N192,888,267,439.25 paid to 319 beneficiary institutions.

Similarly, N179,732,652,000 was released as upkeep allowances to 1,659,853 student beneficiaries.

The scheme, introduced under President Bola Tinubu’s administration, is designed to provide interest-free loans to eligible students in public tertiary institutions, enabling them to pursue their academic programmes without the immediate burden of tuition fees and other financial demands.

The latest report further indicated that NELFUND received 7,985 applications on October 29, 2026, reflecting continued applications through its portal.

Recently, the agency unveiled NELFUND 2.0, an upgraded system designed to address persistent challenges associated with institutional fee payments, delayed notifications, refund disputes and cases of students allegedly benefiting from the loan scheme while their parents or guardians are unaware that the Federal Government has already paid their tuition fees.

The Managing Director of NELFUND, Akintunde Sawyerr, said the new system would introduce a token-based payment mechanism through which loan payments would be linked directly to students’ respective institutions, preventing beneficiaries from diverting the funds to personal accounts or transferring them to other schools.

According to him, the arrangement would also eliminate situations in which students receive duplicate payments from their parents and NELFUND for the same academic session, thereby reducing refund complications between beneficiaries and their institutions.

Sawyerr explained that the token system would give students control over the payment process without allowing them to handle the money directly. He said: “The system, the token, not only can they not transfer it to their personal account, they can’t transfer it to any other school.”

The upgraded platform will also feature a verification portal that will enable parents and guardians to establish whether the Federal Government has paid their children’s tuition fees by simply entering their matriculation numbers. The portal will display the payment status without disclosing the actual amount or other sensitive financial information.

To ensure effective implementation and improve stakeholders’ understanding of the upgraded platform, NELFUND is also organising two-day workshops across the country’s six geopolitical zones. The workshops, themed “NELFUND 2.0: Transforming Access, Simplifying Applications, Empowering Students,” will bring together heads of tertiary institutions, bursars, IT administrators, students and community representatives.