NELFUND moves to stop students from taking loans while still collecting fees from parents, plans portal for parents to verify with matric number

• NELFUND plans to stop students from collecting tuition money from parents after their fees have been covered by loans.

• A proposed portal will let parents check payment status using their children's matriculation numbers.

• A digital wallet system will allow students to authorise tuition payments directly to their institutions.

• The upgraded payment arrangement is expected to take effect in the 2026/2027 academic session.

The Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) has announced plans to stop students from collecting money from their parents for school fees already covered by government-backed student loans.

The fund said it had identified cases of students allegedly benefiting from its loan scheme while still relying on their parents to pay their tuition fees, a practice its Managing Director, Akintunde Sawyerr, described as “double-dipping.”

Sawyerr disclosed this during a press briefing in Abuja on Wednesday, October 28, 2026, saying the fund would introduce new measures to improve transparency and prevent students from receiving financial support from both NELFUND and their parents for the same tuition fees. 

As part of the measures, NELFUND plans to establish an online portal that will allow parents to check whether their children's school fees have been paid through the scheme.

According to reports, parents will be able to enter their children's matriculation numbers on the proposed platform to confirm whether the fees have been paid or remain outstanding. The portal is expected to display the payment status without revealing the amount involved or other sensitive financial details. 

NELFUND is also introducing a digital wallet system that will allow students to authorise tuition payments directly to their institutions without receiving the funds as cash or having them transferred into their personal bank accounts.

Under the proposed arrangement, approved tuition funds will be linked to the student's institution, and the payment token can only be used to pay that school. The system is intended to prevent the diversion of funds and reduce cases where students pay their fees independently without knowing that NELFUND has already settled the bill. 

NELFUND Executive Director, Mustapha Iyal, said the payment system was being piloted with more than 400,000 applications in the system at the time of the briefing.

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The fund also plans to organise re-education workshops across Nigeria's six geopolitical zones to explain the changes to students, parents and tertiary institutions. The upgraded payment arrangement is expected to take effect in the 2026/2027 academic session. 

The proposed changes come amid efforts by the Federal Government to improve the administration of its student loan scheme, which provides support for approved institutional fees and, separately, upkeep allowances for eligible beneficiaries.

NELFUND's announcement does not amount to a blanket ban on students whose parents can afford to pay their fees from applying for loans. Rather, the measures are intended to prevent duplicate tuition funding and make it easier for parents to establish whether the fees have already been paid.