Can NELFUND Keep Up With Soaring Tuition?

Tinubu administration set up the NELFUND to help students finance their education

Barely two years after the Tinubu administration established the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) to help students finance their education, the student loan system is already facing its toughest challenge yet.
The NELFUND management recently raised the alarm over unprecedented tuition hikes at several public universities and polytechnics, warning that the trend could threaten the sustainability of its loan programme.

According to an internal risk assessment which was carried out by one of the leading media organisations, institutions like Ekiti State University (EKSU), University of Medical Sciences, Ondo (UNIMED), Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH), and David Umahi Federal University of Health Sciences (DUFUHS), Ebonyi State, have raised fees by between 20 and 521 per cent. Professional programmes such as Medicine, Nursing, and Law were hit hardest, with tuition for medical degrees at UNIMED now exceeding ₦1 million per session. Edo State University’s Medical and Surgery tuition jumped from ₦750,000 to over ₦950,000, while Nursing students pay close to ₦850,000.

Perhaps most startling is Kogi State Polytechnic, which increased fees by over 1,000 per cent — from less than ₦20,000 per semester to more than ₦200,000. NELFUND warns that such steep increases are creating new financial pressures for students and threatening the fund’s ability to disburse and recover loans effectively.

Financial experts say the situation exposes systemic weaknesses in Nigeria’s tertiary education funding model. Dr Ifeanyi Okonkwo, an education economist, notes, “Student loan schemes are designed around predictable tuition levels. Sudden spikes like these can destabilise the system, increasing default rates and undermining the fund’s capacity to help future students.”

Officials at NELFUND’s risk management unit stress that without urgent intervention by state governments and the Federal Ministry of Education, the fund could face liquidity challenges. Calls are growing for a regulatory framework to standardise fees, protect students, and ensure educational equity. ASUU and student groups have warned that unregulated tuition hikes may push low-income students out of school, worsening social inequality.

While the fund remains committed to sustaining its loan programme, it urges universities to align fee structures with economic realities. “Education must remain accessible to all, not a privilege for a few,” the report concluded.

With tuition inflation threatening to outpace loan disbursements, Nigeria faces a critical choice: reform the funding system or watch the dream of affordable higher education slip further out of reach for millions of youths.