The Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) has cautioned tertiary institutions against unreasonable tuition fee increases, warning that schools found to be hiking charges unfairly risk losing access to student loan payments under the scheme.
NELFUND Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Akintunde Sawyer, disclosed this during an interview on TVC News Breakfast on Wednesday.
He said some institutions had increased their fees following the introduction of the student loan scheme, but noted that the agency had, in several instances, refused to pay charges it considered unreasonable.
“Some schools have gone out on a limb to increase their fees unfairly. We have addressed that by introducing some new guidelines and being very stern with the institutions whose fees have been hiked, that we will not pay unreasonable fees.”
According to him, NELFUND introduced new guidelines specifically to prevent institutions from taking advantage of the increased liquidity created by the student financing programme.
Sawyer added that some institutions subsequently reversed their fee increases after realising they stood to lose revenue if NELFUND declined to fund the inflated charges, a development he cited as evidence that the agency’s firm stance was already yielding results.
Speaking on the concerns over delays in the disbursement of upkeep allowances, Sawyer said the agency’s target was to process applications within approximately 45 days.
However, he explained that actual payment could take longer in practice, since institutions are required to verify applicants before NELFUND can release funds.
He said NELFUND typically forwards applications to institutions for verification after about 30 days of internal processing, with schools then expected to complete their part of the verification exercise within 15 days.
Sawyer acknowledged that while some institutions process applications within a matter of days, others take considerably longer, adding that the overall speed of payment was therefore not entirely within NELFUND’s control.
He disclosed that the agency currently pays upkeep allowances directly into students’ bank accounts, and that between 850,000 and 900,000 students had received the allowance as at the time of the interview.