By Dorcas Opeyemi 
Summary: NELFUND management says inability of NOUN students to possess JAMB number disqualifies them from applying for the ongoing student loan in Nigeria.
Students of the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN) are ineligible to apply for the newly launched student loan, the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) has said.
Although the interest-free credit facility is designed for undergraduate students at public institutions, however, NELFUND Managing Director, Mr. Akintunde Sawyerr, pointed out that NOUN students do not have JAMB registration numbers, which is one of the major requirements of the loan scheme.
What does NOUN admission policy say?
NOUN is an Open Distance Learning (ODL) Institution in Nigeria, where admission seekers do not need to possess the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) number before they are given admission.
According to the admission policy of NOUN sighted by edubase.ng, it states that:
“For degree programmes, students need not sit for the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB) examinations.”
NOUN Student Admission Policy
The eight-page document however, explained that admission seeking candidates must meet the JAMB and National Universities Commission’s (NUC) minimum requirement of five credits at the Ordinary level.
The NELFUND MD pointed out that students who want to access the loan must strictly follow the guidelines, which are not negotiable:
“If an applicant hasn’t got a JAMB number, and hasn’t gone through the JAMB application process, it is going to be impossible to grant that individual a loan at this stage.”
A check by our team showed that anyone who doesn’t have a matriculation number will not even be able to proceed beyond the first stage of the application process. However, we discovered that NOUN is listed among the institutions. They would not be among the beneficiaries in the first phase of the scheme.
And in what seems like a contradiction to what the management of the loan agency said, a student of NOUN claimed he was able to apply and successfully submitted his application on the portal.
Also, students in private institutions are not eligible for the loan. The fund was designed to support Nigerian undergraduate students in their higher education pursuit, while they pay back in installments, two years, after completing their one-year mandatory National Youth Service Corp (NYSC) programme.
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Opeyemi Quadri 
Editorial Staff
I wish the government can do something about it. If the loan is designed for all students in public schools, why exclude NOUN students?
What if I have managed to payed my school fees before will nelfund still pay the fees to my school
No. If you already paid for this session, you can apply for the next session. Besides, the loan is designed for those who can’t afford tuition fee. If you can afford your tuition fee, I think you shouldn’t accumulate debts.
Why is it that Nacabs Polytechnic Akwanga can’t apply for student loan
Nacabs Polytechnic is a private polytechnic, only students in government-owned institutions can apply for NELFUND at the time of this publication.
Is very bad..noun student can’t apply for nelfund loan
The government is working on it, they are also considering how to bring private institutions on board. Stay tuned!