The management of the Nigerian Education Loan Fund, on Tuesday, announced a 14-day postponement of the application process for student loans for state institutions.

According to a statement by the agency in Abuja, the development was due to “low data submissions.”

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NELFUND said the decision was necessitated by the failure of several state-owned institutions to upload the required student data and fee information to its Student Verification System.

“To date, only a limited number of state-owned institutions have successfully completed the data submission process. These include 20 state universities out of 48; 12 state colleges out of 54 and two state polytechnics out of 49.

“While we acknowledge the efforts of these institutions, the failure to submit data from the remaining state institutions poses significant challenges to ensuring a seamless and accurate verification process for student loan applicants.

“The application window, initially set to open on June 25, 2024, will now commence on July 10, 2024,” the statement read.

The NELFUND said the extension would provide additional time for state institutions to comply with the data submission requirements and ensure their students benefitted from the Federal Government’s student loan scheme.

To facilitate an efficient and error-free application process, the Fund said all state institutions needed to provide complete and accurate information.

The information required included the Joint Admissions Matriculation Board numbers, matriculation numbers, admission numbers, full names, level, faculties and departments, duration of programme, fees and gender of all eligible students.

It said incomplete or incorrect data submissions would result in application delays and potential disqualification for affected students.

The fund urged all state institutions to expedite their data submission processes and ensure the accuracy of the information provided.