The Federal Government of Nigeria has said that not only FG institutions can partake in the student loan scheme.
The students of state institutions can also be partakers. During a press briefing in the early hours of today, Thursday, the 30th of May, Akintunde Sawyerr disclosed this.
Akintunde Sawyerr is the Managing Director of the Nigerian Education Loan Fund.
At the briefing today, he said after many deliberations, they have decided to let state universities into the loan scheme.
Also, he added that the inclusion will be actualized and available for access in the next three weeks.
Additionally, he said that the website of the student loan fund has recorded over 60,000 visitors since launched it.
He also expressed his satisfaction, saying that it is a good start and more students will get to use the opportunity.
Furthermore, in his speech, he mentioned that over 90% of the federal universities in the country have made attempts to participate in the opportunity.
According to the managing director, over 90% of the institutions have submitted the list of students that need the loan.
He said that only two federal polytechnics and two federal universities in the country have not submitted any list.
The Student Loan Scheme in the Access to Higher Education Act
The president of Nigeria, Bola Tinubu, on the 12th of June 2023, signed the Access to Higher Education Act, 2023 into law.
The student loan scheme is a part of this act and it is to help students stay in school regardless of their financial capacity.
According to Tinubu, the scheme will be effective in helping penniless students get access to interest-free loans.
It is basically for their education in any university in Nigeria under the Federal Government.
He initiated the scheme to fulfill one of his campaign promises, which was to ease up education funding.
For this, the Federal Government opened an Educational Loan Fund to process the loan request, disburse the funds, and recover them.