NELFUND Sets 45-Day Target for Approved Student Loan Disbursements

NELFUND Sets 45-Day Target for Approved Student Loan Disbursements

The Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) says it is working towards a 45-day timeframe for disbursing approved student loans, provided the beneficiaries' academic sessions are due to begin.

NELFUND Managing Director, Akintunde Sawyerr, explained that the planned timeframe is part of efforts to make the loan system more predictable by aligning disbursements with the academic calendars of universities, polytechnics and colleges of education.

This means students should not necessarily expect an approved loan to be paid immediately after their application is approved. According to Sawyerr, NELFUND considers when the student's institution is scheduled to begin its academic session before releasing the funds.

For example, a student whose application is approved months before the start of the academic session may have to wait until the funds are actually required. The approach is intended to prevent money from being released too far ahead of when students and their institutions need it.

NELFUND says the process has become more complex because tertiary institutions do not all operate on the same academic calendar. Previous disruptions, including industrial actions, have also affected academic schedules and made coordination more difficult.

The Fund is therefore working to better synchronise student applications, institutional approvals and loan disbursements with the academic calendars of beneficiary institutions. NELFUND also says institutions have an important role to play by processing the necessary approvals promptly.

The scale of the programme has also increased significantly. NELFUND's management said the Fund currently has about 1.8 million applications and has made cumulative disbursements to approximately 1.6 million beneficiaries.

To handle the growing demand, NELFUND says it has been upgrading its systems, including measures aimed at improving capacity, strengthening security and protecting the platform against hacking and fraud.

The Fund also disclosed that it had cleared outstanding May, June and July upkeep allowances and was preparing to process the August allowance. However, the NELFUND boss cautioned that occasional delays could still occur because system maintenance and upgrades may sometimes be necessary.

For students, the key point is that loan approval and loan disbursement are not necessarily the same thing. Approval confirms eligibility, while the actual release of funds is linked to the student's academic schedule and the completion of the required institutional processes.

The move toward a 45-day target could make the scheme easier for students to plan around, particularly if institutions and NELFUND are able to coordinate effectively.

Do you think a 45-day disbursement target will make the NELFUND scheme more predictable for students, or should approved loans be released immediately after approval?