The Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) is planning to introduce a digital token-based payment system to prevent students from paying tuition fees twice and improve transparency in the administration of the Federal Government’s student loan scheme.
The Managing Director of NELFUND, Akintunde Sawyerr, disclosed the planned reform, explaining that the new arrangement would give students greater control over when their tuition payments are made.
Under the proposed system, approved tuition funds would be made available to students through digital tokens on their mobile phones. Students would then authorise payment at their institutions’ bursary departments rather than having NELFUND transfer the money directly to the schools.
Why NELFUND is changing its payment system
The proposed reform follows complaints from students whose institutions reportedly received tuition payments twice — first from the students themselves and later from NELFUND.
According to Sawyerr, the problem arose partly because the loan scheme commenced midway through an academic session. Some students had already paid their fees to meet registration and examination deadlines before their loan applications were processed.
When NELFUND subsequently paid the institutions, some students were left waiting for refunds of their original payments.
The agency has been investigating complaints involving several tertiary institutions over their handling of these refunds.
How the new system is expected to work
Under the proposed arrangement, students whose loan applications have been approved would receive a digital token representing their tuition allocation.
They would use the token to authorise payment directly to their institutions when they are ready to settle their fees.
NELFUND expects this approach to reduce payment duplication, improve accountability and ensure that tuition funds are used for their intended purpose.
Sawyerr explained that the agency deliberately avoided paying tuition loans directly into students’ personal bank accounts because unrestricted access could allow the money to be diverted from educational expenses.
The proposed token system is intended to give students control over the timing of payments while keeping the funds dedicated to tuition.
What happens to students’ upkeep allowances?
The planned change concerns tuition payments. Students’ upkeep allowances are expected to continue being paid directly to beneficiaries.
NELFUND is also working to align its loan application and disbursement schedules more closely with academic calendars to reduce the likelihood of students paying fees before their loans are processed.
The token-based system has been announced as a planned upgrade; students should await official implementation instructions from NELFUND and their institutions before changing their existing payment arrangements.
The agency hopes the reforms will improve the efficiency of the student loan programme and reduce the financial difficulties faced by beneficiaries.
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