NELFUND has announced that upkeep loan payments to students will stop during school holidays.
The agency said disbursements will now be limited to active academic sessions only.
The Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) has announced that it will suspend upkeep loan disbursements during school holidays, limiting payments strictly to active academic sessions.
Currently, student loan beneficiaries receive ₦20,000 monthly as an upkeep allowance, in addition to tuition and institutional fees, which are paid directly to their schools. Under the new directive, upkeep loans will only be disbursed while classes are in session.
“In line with this directive, students will only be entitled to upkeep loans for their current academic session. Once an institution’s academic year concludes, upkeep payments for that session will automatically cease. Therefore, students transitioning into a new academic year will no longer receive upkeep disbursements for the previous session,” said Oseyemi Oluwatuyi, NELFUND’s Director of Corporate Communications, in a statement on Thursday.
Prospective loan applicants are advised to apply at the beginning of each academic session to qualify for both institutional payments and upkeep loans during that period. NELFUND emphasized that failing to apply on time could result in missed disbursements.
To enhance transparency and tracking, the agency is upgrading its online portal to reflect this policy change. The platform will now display only the upkeep loans collected by each student in their respective sessions.
Institutions have also been instructed to promptly upload their academic calendars and sessional information to ensure that students receive their full entitlements without interruption.
Since the launch of the student loan scheme, NELFUND has disbursed ₦86 billion to 449,039 students across the country as of August 21, 2025. Officials state that this adjustment aims to align upkeep disbursements with actual academic activity while promoting accountability in the loan process.
