Student Loan: Why We Postponed Enrolment For Students At State-Owned Institutions

UPDATE: State-owned tertiary institutions are now complying with the directive of the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) by sending their students’ data to the loan agency. So, students at these institutions can now apply on NELFUND portal.

Failure by the majority of state-owned institutions to upload data of their students on the Student Verification System of the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) has forced the management of the student loan agency to postpone the enrolment process for undergraduate students in the affected schools to July 10, 2024, as against June 25, 2024, earlier set for the process.

The student loan application portal opened for application on May 24, 2024 for undergraduate at Federal-owned institutions while it set June 25 for the state-owned institutions.

And NELFUND has earlier said the major impediment that could deprive Nigerians in tertiary institutions from accessing the loan was their failure of their institutions to send their data to the management of the loan agency.

The Head of Media at NELFUND, Nasir Ayitogo, says in a statement that the postponement became imperative because of the failure of several state owned institutions to upload the required student data and fees information to the NELFUND Student Verification System (SVS).

According to him, only 20 state universities out of 48; 12 state colleges of education out of 54 and 2 state polytechnics out of 49 complied with the directive and guidelines of the student loan.

While praising the efforts of institutions that have complied, he said “the failure to submit data from the remaining state institutions poses significant challenges to ensuring a seamless and accurate verification process for student loan applicants.”

The statement further states that the shift in the date from June 25 to July, 2024, is to provide additional time for state institutions to comply with the data submission requirements “and ensure their students can benefit from the Federal Government student loan scheme.”

The error-free and adequate information student data the institutions are expected to upload should include:

Full names of their students,
JAMB numbers,
Matriculation numbers,
Admission numbers,
Level,
Departments,
Faculties,
Duration of program,
Fees, and
Gender of their students

The statement states that incomplete or incorrect data submissions will result in application delays and potential disqualification for affected students.

In one of our reports, where we highlighted how requests by NELFUND for student data exposed the inadequacy of ICT unit of federal institutions, we pointed out that the backdoor admission system at state-owned institutions would further expose the rot at the state levels.

Some state-owned universities have been listed on the portal at the time of this publication.

What does this mean?

If your institution failed to send your data on or before the deadline, you will not be able to benefit from the student loan. The credit facility which is interest-fee loan is to support you in your education.

What can you do?

If your schools is showing signs of unseriousness to the loan scheme, you may pressure your student union body to persuade the school management to cooperate with the NELFUND management by sending your data to the agency.

NIN-JAMB palava

Similarly, the loan agency has also said students who are experiencing difficulty in applying due to the issue NIN-JAMB should exercise patience until the issues are resolved by the management of National Identity Management Commission (NIMC).

NELFUND specifically clarifies that for those who do not have NIN attached to the JAMB may be unable to apply.

If your NIN is linked to your data on the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB), you will not be affected if other details are accurate.

The management of the finance promised that the NIN service will be restored soon.

Dorcas Opeyemi

Dorcas has over five years of experience writing about scholarships, undergraduate studies, and education financing. She provides valuable insights and tips to help students navigate the complexities of funding their education. Her writings have featured on InfomediaNG

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