Surge in NELFUND Applications, New Guidelines Fuel Debate Over Equity and Transparency

The Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) is experiencing heightened attention across social media, news sites, and campus forums, as students and stakeholders analyze recent figures and the fund’s evolving guidelines.

Over the past months, NELFUND has disbursed over ₦73 billion to beneficiaries, reaching approximately 366,000 students so far. This scale of disbursement underscores a sizable uptake and a growing dependency on government-backed loans to access tertiary education.

However, public discourse has focused not just on volume, but on who is benefitting. Several reports have pointed to a marked regional skew in applications, with northern geopolitical zones submitting a disproportionately high number relative to southern states. Critics argue that disparities in awareness, institutional engagement, or socio-economic pressures may be at play.

In response to mounting calls for clarity, NELFUND and the Federal Government recently released strengthened guidelines for administering the scheme in public tertiary institutions. Key elements include:

• Eligibility criteria (NIN, BVN, JAMB data) and strict verification timelines for institutions.
• Direct disbursement of tuition fees to institutions, while maintaining optional upkeep allowances to students.
• Repayment to begin two years after NYSC or equivalent service, at a 10% monthly income deduction for salaried beneficiaries.
• Measures to ensure fairness, transparency, and sanctions for fraud or institutional noncompliance.

On social media platforms including X (formerly Twitter) and student-oriented pages, reactions have ranged from optimism to skepticism. Many students welcome the interest-free structure of the loans, seeing them as a lifeline against prohibitive tuition costs. Others warn that without robust monitoring and inclusive access, the scheme risks reinforcing existing inequalities.

Policy analysts caution that the real test will be in repayment behavior once beneficiaries enter the workforce, and whether regulatory safeguards can deter misuse. As NELFUND scales, observers say the government must double down on outreach, especially in underserved southern states, and foster institutional capacity to manage the process fairly.

In sum, NELFUND’s rising visibility reflects both hopeful opportunity and mounting scrutiny, a delicate balance between expanding access and preserving equity in Nigeria’s higher education financing.