No fewer than 3,764 students from 126 institutions have sent in applications for the student loan as of 7:27pm on Friday, data obtained from the Nigerian Education Loan Fund has revealed.

No funds have been disbursed yet as applications are currently being reviewed.

To apply, students need to visit the official student loan portal, nelf.gov.ng, fill out the necessary forms, and submit required documentation.

However, the mounting issues hindering smooth applications were prompting calls for immediate improvements to the portal to ensure that students can secure the financial support they needed for their education.

It would be recalled that the first phase of the student loan scheme has gone live in early hours of Friday, with the first prospective beneficiaries being students from federal institutions across the country.

To address the challenges faced by students, the Fund via its official X page said, “NELFUND is aware that some students are facing challenges trying to apply on the Student Loan Application portal. We have addressed some of the issues collectively as follows:

“If your school is not on the list of Institutions; Contact your ICT department to reach out to NELFUND. If your JAMB number is not verifying; contact your school to ensure your admission is supported by JAMB.

“If you are a student from any state owned institution who is trying to apply; hold on for now, rollout phase starts with only federal institutions.

“If you can’t see any institution in the dropdown list; please check your internet connection and refresh your browser.

“If you are not able to verify your account via email; ensure that you are entering the correct email address.

“If your matriculation number cannot be verified on the portal; contact the ICT department in your school to upload your records to the Students Verification System (SVS).”

The loan website became active some minutes past 12 am on Friday. (Saturday PUNCH)

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