By: Tunde Ojerinola 

The Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) has on Thursday, August 21, 2025, noted that the disbursement of upkeep loans to interested students is now strictly tied to the academic session of each public tertiary institution, IndyPress reports.

NELFUND disclosed this in a statement signed by the Director of Strategic Communications, Mrs. Oseyemi Oluwatuyi.

According to the statement, students will only be entitled to upkeep loans during their active academic sessions.

“Students shall only be entitled to upkeep loans for their current academic session. Upon the conclusion of an institution’s academic year, upkeep payments for that session shall automatically cease,”  NELFUND wrote.

It added, “students who transition into a new academic year will no longer receive upkeep disbursements for the preceding session.”

NELFUND further advised all interested student applicants to apply for the loan scheme at the beginning of each academic session to be eligible for both institutional charges and upkeep payments.

“Interested loan applicants are required to apply for the loan at the beginning of every academic session to be eligible for both institutional charges and upkeep for that particular session.”

“To ensure accuracy and transparency, the NELFUND loan portal is being automated to reflect this adjustment. The portal will henceforth display only the upkeep loans that have been collected by each student within the relevant session.”

NELFUND  charged the public tertiary institutions to promptly upload their academic calendars and sessional information, describing it as a necessity for  their students to receive their upkeep entitlements for the entire academic session.