The Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) has announced the closure of its online application portal for the 2024/2025 academic session, effective Tuesday.

In a statement issued on Monday by its Director of Strategic Communications, Oseyemi Oluwatuyi, the Fund said the move concludes its second full application cycle, allowing it to complete the processing of outstanding requests and upkeep disbursements.

According to the statement, the portal will reopen in the second week of October 2025 for the 2025/2026 academic session and remain accessible until January 2026. NELFUND urged tertiary institutions to promptly update students’ records on the Student Verification System (SVS) to ensure eligibility for the upcoming cycle. Institutions not commencing a new session within the stipulated period were asked to notify the Fund for possible concessions.

“All applications for the 2024/2025 academic session that remain unverified by institutions after October 8, 2025, will be automatically cancelled,” the Fund warned, advising affected students to engage their institutions before the deadline or reapply in the next cycle.

NELFUND noted that delays in some applications were linked to institutions’ failure to complete verification requirements. While it said it is engaging with the affected schools, the Fund stressed that continued non-compliance would result in the publication of their names for transparency.

On upkeep allowances, NELFUND clarified that disbursements for the current session will continue until November 2025, but students must reapply to remain eligible in the next session.

Since the launch of the Federal Government’s Student Loan Initiative on May 24, 2024, over 510,000 students have benefitted, with N99.5 billion disbursed. Data from the Student Loan Disbursement Daily Status Report as of September 27, 2025, shows that NELFUND has received 835,360 applications to date, of which 510,378 were approved.