A policy brief has warned that N355.9 billion in student loans issued by the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) faces significant recovery risk. According to the brief, integrating loan repayment systems with Nigeria Revenue Service income data is crucial to ensuring the scheme's long-term sustainability and improving the tracking of beneficiaries' earnings for repayment purposes.

The Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) has dismissed as fake news a circulating image claiming that President Bola Tinubu announced life imprisonment for graduates who fail to repay their student loans. In a post on its official X account, NELFUND said the image, which appeared to show the front page of a newspaper report, was doctored, and urged the public to disregard the claim. The agency did not announce any such penalty for loan defaulters.

The National Association of Ogun State Students (NAOSS) has requested an investigation into alleged discrepancies in the disbursement of student loans from the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) at D.S. Adegbenro ICT Polytechnic in Ogun State.

The Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) has condemned unethical practices by some tertiary institutions, including withholding tuition refunds and arbitrarily increasing school charges, despite receiving support from the federal government. This announcement was made in a public notice by the Director of Strategic Communications, Oseyemi Oluwatuyi.

The Ministry of Education has directed the Universities Fund and the Higher Education Loans Board (HELB) to extend the 2026 funding application deadline to September 21, 2026, after the previous window closed on August 31 with 789,422 submissions. Education Cabinet Secretary Julius Ogamba announced the extension, saying several eligible students and trainees missed the cut-off and no deserving learner should be left behind. He confirmed that Ksh22.12 billion has already been disbursed, according to the announcement.

According to CampusBee, over 58% of beneficiaries of the Higher Education Students’ Financing Board (HESFB) government loan scheme for university education are currently defaulting on their loans. The situation has become more serious, as there are discussions about potentially publishing the names of those who have defaulted.