The Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) has announced it will stop disbursing upkeep loans to students during school holidays.
Currently, in addition to tuition loans paid directly to institutions, beneficiaries receive a monthly upkeep allowance of ₦20,000.
In a statement signed on Thursday by its Director of Corporate Communications, Oseyemi Oluwatuyi, NELFUND explained that upkeep loans will now be tied strictly to the academic calendar of each institution.
“Students shall only be entitled to upkeep loans for their current academic session. Once an institution’s academic year ends, upkeep payments for that session will automatically stop. Students moving into a new academic year will not continue to receive upkeep from the previous session,” Oluwatuyi said.
He advised students to apply for loans at the start of each session to qualify for both tuition and upkeep. To ensure transparency, NELFUND is upgrading its portal to display upkeep disbursements tied to each academic year.
Institutions have also been instructed to upload academic calendars promptly to guarantee students access to full upkeep benefits within each session.
As of August 21, 2025, NELFUND has disbursed ₦86 billion to 449,039 student beneficiaries nationwide.