NELFUND student loan portal opens

The Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) has opened the application portal for the first phase of the student loan scheme.

According to NELFUND, students from federal institutions across the country are to apply for now.

The website became active in the early hours of Friday, and the pilot phase of the scheme will be exclusively available to students of federal tertiary institutions.

In due course, NELFUND will announce the second phase of the rollout, which will extend to state-owned institutions.

Mr. Nasir Ayitogo, NELFUND’s Media and Public Relations Lead, listed the loan application step-by-step.

CREATING AN ACCOUNT

Step 1: Visit www.nelf.gov.ng.

Step 2: Click on “Apply Now.”

Step 3: Click on “Get Started.”

Step 4: Answer the questions on this page to continue by clicking on “Yes, I am a Nigerian”

Step 5: Verify your educational information. You would be required to select your school from a dropdown and provide your matric number to check if your school has uploaded your details.

Step 6: Click “Verify with JAMB” and enter your JAMB details on the screen. (Students whose NIN has not been registered with JAMB will have an input field where they can enter their NIN for validation.)

Step 7: Create an account by entering your email address, password, and confirm password in the fields provided and click “Create Account.”

Step 8: Click the email verification link sent to your email.

This concludes the process of creating an account.

HOW TO COMPLETE YOUR PROFILE:

After successful registration, log in by clicking the “LOGIN” button.

Step 1: Enter your email address and password to log in.

Step 2: Click on the “Proceed to Contact Details” button.

Step 3: Update contact details with the current information of your phone number, full residential address, state of residence, and local government area of residence, and click “Proceed to Educational Details”.

Step 4: Update your educational details by selecting your higher institution and inputting your Matric Number, then click “Proceed to Account Details.”

Step 5: Click on the “Loans” button to view the status of your application.

Persecondnews recalls that President Bola Tinubu had announced the student loan policy in June 2023 that will enable students of tertiary institutions to obtain interest-free loans.

The scheme, which was supposed to have taken off in October 2023, was deferred until a re-enactment in April 2024.

NELFUND had scheduled the opening of the loan application portal for May 24.