University students dominate NELFUND applications, making up 90% as of May 2025

Key takeaways

  • University students filed 497,000 loan applications, accounting for a staggering 90.1% of all institutional submissions.
  • College of education students submitted just 34,000 applications, making up only 6.2% of the total pool.
  • Polytechnics trailed with 21,000 applications, contributing 3.7% to the national tally.
  • Out of every 10 students applying for a loan, 9 are university students, underscoring their dominance in demand.

Since the launch of Nigeria’s student loan programme, the numbers have consistently told the same story and by May 2025, the result is undeniable: universities are not just leading in applications, they are overwhelmingly defining the demand.

Out of 552,009 total applications submitted from inception to May 2025, a staggering 90.1% came from university students alone. That’s nearly half a million students actively seeking financial aid, dwarfing the combined demand from colleges and polytechnics.

To put it in perspective: for every 100 student loan applications, only 6 came from colleges and just 4 from polytechnics. This isn't about awareness or access, it's about scale. Universities hold the largest student population, and now, the largest share of Nigeria’s education loan landscape.

Source:

NELFUND

Period:

May 2025
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