The application portal for the Nigerian Education Loan Scheme for the 2024/2025 academic session will close tomorrow, Tuesday, 30 August, 2025.
The Managing Director of the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND), Akintunde Sawyerr, who made this known during a press briefing in Abuja, explained that the closure would enable the Fund to conclude processing of pending applications and upkeep payments.
Mr Sawyerr further explained that the portal would reopen in the second week of next month for fresh applications into the 2025/2026 academic cycle, and would remain accessible until January 2026.
“The portal will close tomorrow, the 30th of September. That will enable us to do some resetting and recalibration. The portal will reopen in the second week of October, which is about 15 days from now. It will remain open until January 2026. So there’s a very big window for students to apply. This will allow students to make fresh applications.”
The NEL Fund Managing Director therefore urged higher institutions to update students’ records on the student verification system to enable applicants to assess the scheme.
The NELFUND Managing Director, therefore, urged higher institutions to update students’ records on the Student Verification System (SVS) to enable applicants to access the scheme.
Mr Sawyerr stated that all unverified applications for the 2024/2025 session would be automatically cancelled after October 8, 2025, and such students would need to reapply under the new session.
The NELFUND boss warned that institutions that fail to verify students’ records would be publicly named.
On calls to increase the 20,000 monthly upkeep allowance in light of current economic realities, Mr Sawyerr explained that no immediate increase would be made until a detailed study was conducted to determine an appropriate figure across states.
Also, the NELFUND Director of Operations, Mustapha Iyal, clarified that students who had already applied and completed verification for the 2024/2025 academic session would continue to receive their payments.
”What we did right now is that students cannot apply, but the students who have already applied, we are going to pay their institutional charges if their institution verifies. So we are not saying that we are stopping payment.” He said,
RN
