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Data obtained from the Nigerian Education Loan Fund have revealed that only 78 per cent of student loan registrants were able to apply for both institutional and upkeep loans.
President Bola Tinubu, on April 3, signed the Student Loans (Access to Higher Education) Act (Repeal and Re-Enactment) Bill, 2024, into law.
The Act empowers the Nigeria Education Loan Fund to provide loans to qualified Nigerian students for tuition, fees, charges and upkeep during their studies in approved public tertiary institutions and vocational and skills acquisition establishments in the country.
The Managing Director of the Fund, Akintunde Sawyerr has continued to embark on visits across tertiary institutions to sensitise students on the benefits of the scheme.
However, the data obtained from NELFund revealed that a total of 408,973 students registered on the student loan website, while only 320,837 applied successfully, leaving a shortfall of 88,136 who couldn’t apply.
For the 320,837 the sum total of N33.9bn was disbursed as institutional fees.
Meanwhile, more students have continued to crowdfund for school fees online despite the student loan intervention.
Data released to our correspondent revealed that 136 institutions have so far benefited from the scheme including federal and state tertiary institutions.
Checks by our correspondent on X (formerly Twitter) revealed that more students have continued to seek help despite the student loan intervention.
On December 5, 2024, an X user, Temmy Cakes solicited funds on behalf of a colleague
On September 16, the Nigerian Universities Nurses Association in a post on X solicited funds for payment of school fees of nursing students in the University of Ibadan following a drastic increment in fees.
The Director of Programmes at Reform Education Nigeria, Oluwatoyin Ayodamola told our correspondent that most students were probably scared hence the reason for not taking the loan.
“While the loan is a good initiative, I think most of the students are just scared of taking loans. You know Nigerians and loans are like words and opposites hence the reason why some may prefer to beg online,” Ayodamola said.
