What college students must find out about NELFUND 2026 disbursement

The Nigerian authorities launched the Nigerian Training Mortgage Fund (NELFUND) in 2023 to increase entry to tertiary schooling and scale back monetary stress on college students and their sponsors. 

The fund was established beneath the Scholar Loans (Entry to Increased Training) Act 2023, later revised in 2024 to make clear eligibility and reimbursement phrases, and formally created NELFUND because the company liable for managing and disbursing scholar loans to certified Nigerians in public larger establishments.

The fund covers two main parts: institutional expenses and scholar repairs. Institutional expenses are paid on to the college, whereas repairs help is paid into the scholar’s private checking account. To this point, the scheme has disbursed ₦184 billion ($136.18 million) to 1.5 million college students throughout 265 establishments.

Because the 2025/2026 tutorial cycle reaches its peak, greater than 2 million Nigerian larger schooling college students are looking for readability on cost timelines and reimbursement phrases. This information breaks down the most recent updates from NELFUND to assist candidates navigate the portal and safe their tutorial loans.

What to know in regards to the NELFUND disbursement for 2026 

Disbursement of scholar loans for the 2025/2026 tutorial session is at the moment ongoing. Purposes opened in October 2025 and had been initially scheduled to shut in January 2026. Nevertheless, this deadline was moved to February 27, 2026, to provide college students extra time to finish their utility. 

Authorised loans are being launched in batches; the fund scheme disclosed in February 2026 that it disbursed virtually ₦400 million ($295,000) in scholar loans to Delta State College, Abraka. 

NELFUND usually goals to disburse funds inside 30 days of receiving an authorized utility. Nevertheless, the timeline for cost relies on how shortly establishments verify scholar enrollment and add payment particulars. As soon as verification is full and approval is granted, institutional charges are paid immediately to colleges, whereas repairs allowances are transferred to college students. If an utility nonetheless exhibits as pending, it could imply that verification or inside processing remains to be in progress.

Are you certified to use for NELFUND?

The scheme is at the moment accessible to Nigerian college students who’re learning or need to check in federal larger establishments, together with public universities, polytechnics, faculties of schooling, or vocational colleges in Nigeria. College students can apply for the mortgage in every tutorial cycle, and reimbursement begins two years after completion of the Nationwide Youth Service Corps (NYSC).

Mortgage quantities should not mounted as a result of tuition varies throughout colleges. The quantity lined beneath institutional expenses relies on the official payment construction submitted and verified by every establishment. College students can also apply for repairs help of as much as ₦20,000 ($14.79) month-to-month to help with dwelling bills throughout the tutorial session.

The NELFUND utility course of

To use, college students should register on the official NELFUND portal and create an account earlier than finishing their profile. To create an account:

• Open the NELFUND utility portal
• Verify your citizenship
• Confirm your scholar standing by inputting your establishment and matriculation quantity
• Confirm your JAMB standing by offering your JAMB registration quantity and date of delivery
• In case your Nationwide Identification Quantity (NIN) just isn’t linked to your JAMB profile, you will want to supply it for verification
• A code will probably be despatched to the e-mail deal with offered to confirm the account, after which your account will probably be created
• Full your profile by offering your contact particulars, together with a sound cellphone quantity, a residential deal with, your State of residence, and your State of Origin.
• Then you definitely would supply your account particulars, and your account will probably be created.

To use for the mortgage:

• On the portal’s dashboard, choose ‘Mortgage’
• If you happen to want to apply for the maintenance mortgage of ₦20,000 ($14.79) month-to-month, choose it
• You then add your admission letter (necessary) and your scholar ID card
• Then you can be directed to a web page the place you will notice the full mortgage quantity, after which submit your utility

Purposes for NELFUND’s 2025/2026 disbursement cycle are open till the top of the month, because the scheme continues to increase its attain to make sure no scholar is left behind. Whereas making use of, it is crucial for correct documentation and knowledge to be submitted to make sure funds are disbursed in time.