The Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) has announced another extension of its Student Loan Application Portal for the 2025/2026 academic session, providing additional time for institutions and eligible students to complete their applications.
The development was disclosed on Thursday in a statement signed by Oseyemi Oluwatuyi, Director of Strategic Communications at NELFUND.
According to the statement, the extension applies specifically to institutions that formally requested extra time, enabling students from those schools to complete the loan application process.
“The Nigerian Education Loan Fund has approved an extension of its Student Loan Application Portal for institutions that have formally requested additional time for the 2025/2026 academic session,” the statement said.
Speaking on the decision, the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of NELFUND, Akintunde Sawyerr, reaffirmed the Fund’s commitment to ensuring that eligible students across participating institutions can benefit from the student loan programme.
Sawyerr urged students in affected institutions to take advantage of the extension by submitting their applications through the official portal.
NELFUND also reiterated its dedication to transparency, accountability, and the provision of sustainable financing solutions aimed at removing financial barriers to higher education in Nigeria.
Earlier this month, the Fund had already extended the application portal after witnessing a surge in nationwide interest. The portal was initially scheduled to close on February 27, 2026.
Since the launch of the programme, the agency said it has disbursed more than ₦206 billion in loans to support students in tertiary institutions across the country.
According to NELFUND, a total of 1,164,222 students have benefited from ₦206.29 billion in loans since the programme began.
NELFUND was established to implement the Nigeria Student Loan Scheme, which was signed into law by Bola Ahmed Tinubu in April 2024.