NELFUND: 60,000 students register for loan scheme, says Sawyerr

Akintunde Sawyerr, the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Nigeria Education Loan Fund (NELFUND), has said that 60,000 students from federal tertiary institutions have submitted applications for the student loan scheme since the launch of the portal last week Friday.

He disclosed that the agency will start receiving applications from students of state-owned tertiary institutions in three weeks.

The NELFUND chair urged heads of the state-owned institutions to begin uploading details of their students on its portal.

Sawyerr said this at an ongoing press conference in Abuja on Thursday.

The agency is said to be working with 126 tertiary institutions for the loan scheme.

Sawyerr revealed that over 9.5 million people have visited the portal since it was launched last week.

The student loan scheme will begin with 1.2m students as beneficiaries.

The loan, which is the same amount as the tuition fees of the benefitting students, will be paid directly to their institutions.

However, stipends would be paid directly to the selected students every month to help them buy other things that can make them comfortable while pursuing their education.