Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) announced on Thursday that the disbursement of upkeep loans is now directly linked to the academic calendar of each institution.
Gatekeepers News reports that this was disclosed in a statement by Oseyemi Oluwatuyi, the Director of Corporate Communications.
“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,” Oluwatuyi said in the statement.
NELFUND further advised interested loan applicants are required to apply for the loan at the beginning of every academic session to be eligible for both institutional charges and upkeep for that particular session.
“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 that have been collected 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,” he stated.
In addition to institutional loans provided directly to educational establishments, beneficiaries of the student loan program will receive a monthly allowance of N20,000, totaling N240,000 annually. However, under the new guidelines, this monthly disbursement will only be available during the academic session. Payments will be paused when students take holidays.
