NASS and NELFUND Expand Student Loan Scheme to Serve 7 Million Beneficiaries

• Fund records over N282 bn disbursement to 1.6 million students

• Expansion to include vocational, technical and skills acquisition programmes

The National Assembly (NASS) and the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) have begun steps to broaden the federal student loan scheme from roughly 1.6 million direct beneficiaries to seven million students across tertiary institutions and vocational centres nationwide.

Stakeholders said on Monday that the expansion aims to deepen educational access and foster wider socio‑economic transformation by increasing support for students and trainees.

The initiative was announced during a national sensitisation programme on the student loan scheme organised by the Senate Committee on Tertiary Education and TETFund, in partnership with NELFUND, in Abuja.

At the event, NELFUND Managing Director Akintunde Sawyerr noted that the scheme has already disbursed more than N282 billion and directly benefited about 1.6 million Nigerian students.

Sawyerr said the programme’s impact extends beyond individual beneficiaries to millions of family members and communities across the country.

“Today, 1.6 million Nigerian students have directly benefited from the NELFUND scheme. If we consider that the average Nigerian family consists of about five people, it means we are directly and indirectly impacting nearly 10 million lives,” he said.

He added that NELFUND is seeking broader stakeholder support to expand the scheme’s reach to about seven million beneficiaries by including students in tertiary institutions, vocational centres, technical colleges and skills acquisition programmes.

He explained that the planned expansion would significantly increase the number of Nigerians benefiting from the intervention and strengthen efforts to enhance workforce development and national productivity.

Deputy President of the Senate, Senator Barau Jibrin, described the sensitisation campaign as critical to the programme’s success.

Jibrin stressed that many eligible students had yet to take advantage of the opportunity because of limited awareness.

“No matter how beneficial a programme is, if the intended beneficiaries are not adequately informed about it, its impact will be limited. People need to understand what the programme entails and how they can access it. That is exactly what this sensitisation campaign is all about and should be taken round the entire six geopolitical zones,” he said.

Chairman of the House Committee on Student Loans, Scholarships and Tertiary Education Financing, Hon. Ifeoluwa Ehindero, said the programme has become a major intervention in widening access to higher education for indigent students.

Ehindero stated that the sensitisation exercise would deepen public understanding of the opportunities provided by the scheme and encourage wider participation.

According to him, the fund has achieved significant milestones since its launch, reaching more than 1.5 million students and disbursing over N282 billion in educational support.

Earlier, Chairman of the Senate Committee on TETFund, Senator Muntari Dandutse, said the programme was part of the National Assembly’s oversight responsibility and commitment to promoting equitable access to education.

Dandutse said the collaboration between lawmakers and NELFUND would help ensure that more Nigerians, particularly those from disadvantaged backgrounds, benefit from the federal government’s educational financing initiatives.

The student loan scheme is one of the federal government’s flagship education interventions designed to remove financial barriers to tertiary education and support human capital development across the country.