The Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) said on Thursday that the upkeep loans for students in Nigerian tertiary institutions will henceforth be strictly tied to the academic session of their respective institutions.
In a statement by its spokesperson, Oseyemi Oluwatuyi, NELFUND noted that as soon as an academic year ends, the upkeep for that academic session will automatically cease for students benefiting from the loan for that academic year.
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“Consequently, students who transition into a new academic year will no longer receive upkeep disbursements for the preceding session,” it said.
“This policy ensures that upkeep payments are managed fairly, transparently, and in line with each institution’s academic schedule.”
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It explained that the decision to align upkeep disbursements strictly with academic sessions is based on two key factors.
The statement said that one reason is that tertiary institutions did not operate under a harmonised academic calendar.
It added that the measure is also intended to prevent duplicate upkeep payments to the same student within the same institution and academic session.
NELFUND also asked tertiary institutions to upload their academic calendars and session information in a timely manner to guarantee that their students receive the full upkeep benefits.
NELFUND provides two categories of loans to students in public universities. One is the loans for school fees or institutional charges, which, if approved, are sent on behalf of the students directly to the institution’s account. The other is the N20,000 monthly upkeep loan as a stipend for the student.
However, students can decide to get the loan for institutional charges without the monthly upkeep loans.
Reasons for possible rejection
NELFUND also explained that students’ applications may be rejected if they applied for upkeep for an academic session that had ended.
It listed other reasons for a rejected application to include incomplete documentation or a decline by the institution.
It said: “At the initial stage of application, rejection may result from incomplete or unclear documentation, incorrect account details, or a mismatch of names across official documents.
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“At the institutional verification stage, rejection may also result if an institution has not verified or has declined to approve a student’s details for its own reasons. For transparency, all rejection reasons are clearly stated on each applicant’s dashboard.
“At the upkeep application stage, rejection may occur if the academic session being applied for has already closed. This information is provided directly by the respective institutions.”
When an application is rejected due to any of the reasons, NELFUND said the students can reapply by choosing the new academic session.
“For transparency, all rejection reasons are clearly stated on each applicant’s dashboard,” the statement said.
