nelfund portal _ Students Loan Portal

NELFUND, the Nigerian Education Loan Fund, is the federal body that gives eligible Nigerians loans for higher education. It pays a student's institutional charges directly to the school, and it can also pay a monthly upkeep allowance to the student. Loans are requested through an online portal, verified against NIN, BVN and JAMB or school records, and repaid after graduation, starting two years after National Youth Service (NYSC) is completed or the beneficiary is exempted.

This site is an independent guide. It is not NELFUND, the Federal Government or any institution, and it never asks for your NIN, BVN, passwords or login details. Apply only on NELFUND's own website, nelf.gov.ng. The scheme's rules below come mainly from NELFUND's published guidelines.

What NELFUND is and who runs it

The Students Loans (Access to Higher Education) Act, 2024 was signed by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. According to NELFUND's guidelines, it repealed the 2023 Act and set up NELFUND as a body corporate to receive, manage and invest funds and provide loans for higher education, vocational training and skills acquisition. Background on the fund's history is on its reference page.

What a loan pays for

Institutional charges. Paid electronically to the eligible tertiary institution (ETI) on your behalf, never to you. NELFUND obtains each institution's fee schedule every year and checks the fee structure against the school's records to work out the amount.
Optional upkeep allowance. Paid directly to the applicant. NELFUND said in August 2025 that the monthly upkeep is ₦20,000 and that students can take institutional charges without it. See the reports in NALTF and the National Universities Commission.

The same August 2025 statement tied upkeep to each institution's academic session: when a session ends, upkeep for that session stops, and students apply at the start of each session to get both institutional charges and upkeep. Applications for upkeep can be rejected if the session for which you applied has already ended.

Who can apply

The guidelines require a Nigerian citizen with a NIN and a BVN (BVN for applicants aged 18 and over). There are three routes: fresh entry and direct entry, where you need valid JAMB admission to an eligible institution, and full-time undergraduates, who provide a matriculation number. You also provide your JAMB number, personal details, and a passport photograph. Read more on the eligibility page.

You are disqualified if you have defaulted on a previous federal or state education loan, currently hold another government education loan or scholarship, have been found guilty of misconduct such as cultism, plagiarism or submitting fake documents, or have been convicted of fraud, forgery, drug offences, felony or dishonesty offences. The application includes an attestation that you have no criminal record and do not already hold a first degree.

How the process works

Complete the online application, attach your admission letter (a student ID is optional) and sign the online indemnity agreement.
NELFUND validates your NIN with the NIMC, your BVN with NIBSS and your admission or matric number with JAMB or your school. The guidelines say evaluation is automated and should take seven calendar days.
Applications that pass the mandatory checks are approved automatically, with an emailed agreement, and approval should follow within 30 days of evaluation.
You sign the loan agreement and a Global Standing Instruction (GSI) mandate on the portal, disclosing all qualifying accounts linked to your BVN.
Institutional charges are paid to the school no later than 30 days after disbursement approval, subject to available funds. The school must acknowledge receipt and issue you a receipt within seven days.

Step-by-step help is on the how-to-apply page, with account access in portal login, and a short overview at what is the NELFUND portal.

Repayment

Under the guidelines, repayment starts two years after NYSC or exemption. Employed beneficiaries have 10 percent of salary deducted at source by their employer, and self-employed beneficiaries remit 10 percent of monthly profit. Beneficiaries must report employment status quarterly, and report a job change within 30 days. Voluntary repayment is allowed at any time, and an unemployed beneficiary can request an extension with a sworn statement. Loan performance is reported to the CBN's credit risk system and private credit bureaus. If someone defaults, recovery steps include warnings, restrictions on further credit, publishing a list of persistent defaulters, triggering the GSI to reach balances in linked accounts, and legal action. The repayment page and GSI post go deeper.

The guidelines do not state an interest rate. NELFUND's loans are widely described as interest-free, so confirm the exact terms in the loan agreement you are asked to sign.

Cycles, deadlines and changes

The 2025/2026 portal window opened on October 23, 2025 and was scheduled to close on January 31, 2026, according to SmartJamb. Education news sites reported an extension to February 27, 2026, and some institutions announced later school-level deadlines, so always check with your school. No source reviewed confirms dates for a 2026/2027 window; check NELFUND directly. A rumor in early 2026 that upkeep had risen to ₦150,000 was reported as debunked by NELFUND channels and a beneficiaries' association, and no source reviewed supports it.

Scams and safe use

Applying is free. Do not pay an agent to "approve" a loan, share NIN, BVN, passwords or OTPs on social media, or use links sent on WhatsApp. NELFUND has said students can contact it at [email protected] or through its official social channels. Common errors are covered on the common issues page and in verification errors. Verified links are on the official links page.

Main sources

NELFUND public guidelines for applicants, the main source for eligibility, evaluation, disbursement and repayment.
NUC report on NELFUND's upkeep clarification, August 2025.
AllAfrica report on the upkeep policy, August 21, 2025.
Reference page on NELFUND.

More on this site's method is on the about page.