NELFUND responds to complaints about the student loan portal hours after its launch

The Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) has addressed recent complaints from students experiencing difficulties applying on the Student Loan Application portal.

The organisation tackled some of these concerns collectively as follows:

1. If a student’s school is not on the list of institutions, NELFUND has advised that the ICT department of the respective school, be contacted to reach out to NELFUND.
2. If a student’s JAMB number is not verifying, the student is instructed to contact his/her school to ensure their admission was supported by JAMB.
3. For students from state-owned institutions trying to apply, NELFUND has explained that the rollout phase started only with federal institutions and therefore these students are advised to hold on for now.
4. If students cannot see any institution in the dropdown list, NELFUND recommends checking the internet connection and refreshing the browser.
5. If students are unable to verify their account via email, they are instructed to ensure that they entered the correct email address.
6. If a student’s matriculation number could not be verified on the portal, NELFUND has advised contacting the ICT department of his/her school to upload their records to the Students Verification System (SVS).

The loan website, which went live early Friday, is now accessible for students of federal tertiary institutions as part of the scheme’s pilot phase.

NELFUND’s Media and Public Relations Lead, Mr. Nasir Ayitogo, provided detailed step-by-step instructions for applying for the loan.

President Bola Tinubu first introduced the student loan policy in June 2023, aiming to provide interest-free loans to students.

Although the scheme was initially set to launch in October 2023, it was postponed and re-enacted in April 2024. Finally, NELFUND announced that the loan application and issuance portal would open on May 24, and it is now operational.

Here are some of the complaints made by applicants on “X”:

@BoiDamz-  “Okay okay you’ve launched. But what about the state universities why aren’t they included or aren’t they public schools too? We pay to much in states uni to be abolished from the scheme”

@larrydybest – “Why is Federal College of orthopedic technology igbobi Lagos not captured on this student loan program”

@AbdulhamidAdamc- “Pls Education detail verification is not going. It keeps saying the details are not found. Many of us have tried with little luck. Pls look into this. Thank you”.

@Veekthurr- “My NIN has refused to be verified.  Have been trying it all morning.  What’s the problem?”

@IbumoreElias –  “University of Jos is not on the app”

@JaphetKamile said, “My university is not on the site? Federal university of allied health sciences Enugu!

@Veekthurr stated, “The site has refused to verify my NIN since morning. I’ve tried it over and over again.  Please fix this.  Thank you”.

According to NELFUND, its website has Frequently Asked Questions to answer common questions that the applicants may have regarding the Students’ Higher Education Loan in a brief and easy-to-understand way.