₦airaland Forum

Nigeria’s student loan scheme was introduced to make higher education more accessible to students who might otherwise struggle to pay for tuition and other education-related expenses.

But as more students take loans, another question is becoming increasingly important: what happens when a graduate finishes school but cannot find a job to repay the money?

The answer is different from some of the alarming claims circulating online.

The Nigerian Education Loan Fund, NELFUND, says repayment does not begin immediately after graduation. Under its current terms, beneficiaries who participate in the National Youth Service Corps are expected to begin repayment two years after completing NYSC. Repayment is also tied to employment.

What if the graduate has a job?

For an employed graduate, NELFUND’s terms provide for repayment through deductions from salary.

The Fund’s published terms state that 10 per cent of monthly salary is deducted at source for loan repayment. Beneficiaries are also expected to update their employment information when they get a job or change employers.

This means repayment is designed to follow the graduate’s ability to earn rather than demanding immediate payment while the person is still in school.

What if there is no job?

This is where the issue becomes more complicated.

NELFUND’s FAQ states that a beneficiary who remains unemployed after the repayment period can notify the Fund through a sworn court affidavit, with the official FAQ providing for periodic confirmation of unemployment.

That is important because one of the biggest fears surrounding student loans is the possibility of graduates being pursued for money they simply do not have.

The scheme is not supposed to turn unemployment immediately into a criminal offence.

In fact, NELFUND has recently dismissed a viral claim that graduates who fail to repay their loans could face life imprisonment. The Fund described the claim as fake news.

But the debt does not simply disappear

Being unemployed does not mean the loan is automatically cancelled.

The obligation remains, and the graduate is expected to comply with NELFUND’s procedures and provide the required information concerning their employment status.

For people who eventually become employed, repayment can then begin according to the applicable rules.

Self-employed beneficiaries also have obligations. NELFUND’s terms require them to provide information about their businesses and other details needed for loan management and recovery.

The Fund also says it has legal mechanisms for recovering loans from beneficiaries who default.

Why the issue matters

The success of Nigeria’s student loan programme will ultimately depend on a delicate balance.

Government wants the money recovered so it can continue supporting future students.

Graduates, meanwhile, need enough financial stability to establish themselves after university.

A graduate earning a good salary may be able to repay without major difficulty. Someone struggling to find work or earning barely enough for food, rent and transportation faces a very different reality.

That is why the real test of the scheme will not simply be how much money NELFUND disburses.

It will be whether graduates can move from education into meaningful employment and repay without being pushed deeper into financial hardship.

NELFUND reported in May that more than 1.6 million students had received support worth over ₦206 billion since the programme began.

That is a significant expansion of education financing.

But as the number of beneficiaries grows, Nigeria will eventually face the biggest test of the programme:

Can the country create enough economic opportunities for graduates to repay the loans while still building their own lives?

If the answer is no, the student loan debate will eventually become much bigger than tuition.

It will become a debate about jobs, wages, poverty and whether education can genuinely lead to a better life.

Source: https://yaroinsider.ng/student-loans-what-happens-when-graduates-cannot-repay-2/

When we all stop deceiving ourselves in this country, we will wake up to reality.
Tinubu government is impoverishing the masses to enable people at different strata of government feed fat.
Government doing the easier task of establishing schools without making policies that will drive industrialization, self sufficiency and ease of doing business.
Even for those that will get government job is even worse
Many people future has been mortgaged with that program.

I wonder what will be the plight of those that wants to japa.

But in all, I've never appreciated the students loan of a thing.

Lots of people have graduated and not paying. Heaven never fall. Find another job

As a student, just avoid the loan if you can. The loan can destabilise the beginning of your career. The next administration can even make it more difficult for you. Nigeria is unstable politically. Be wise.

Benwallt:
Lots of people have graduated and not paying. Heaven never fall. Find another job

They have graduated and not paying BECAUSE THERE ARE NO JOBS and instead of your tilumbu to create job opportunities he's busy sharing money to governors, religious groups and dàtá b0iz most of whom haven't even gone to school yet

You give dem work they no pay?

As if the government has created job or made the economy booming tk be filled with jobs so that these lads can be gainfully employed to repay

I pity them because their BVN and credit history will be a mess

Didijiji:
As if the government has created job or made the economy booming tk be filled with jobs so that these lads can be gainfully employed to repay

I pity them because their BVN and credit history will be a mess

See as this one is in deep pain just because the NELFUND will help students from poor homes to graduate

stuffs2002:
OBIDIENTS have consistently been attacking the NELFUND just because it is beneficial to the Nigerian students

How

🤪🤪🤪🤪🤪🤪

Are you gainfully employed?

Companies are leaving Nigeria because of government clueless policies. Where will they get the job to repay?

Yahoo kuma don cast! So how?

Answer the Question... And stop acting like a Child. The OP ask a question you are that pointing finger. Topical APC behavior

stuffs2002:

OBIDIENTS have consistently been attacking the NELFUND just because it is beneficial to the Nigerian students

We collect back their degree🤷

They will pay unless the person is dead .

Government don't force people to repay loans like banks that runs business .

Another government that will be in power then will want to keep its popularity by make it more easier for the beneficiaries to be willing to pay back so the the program can continue for more others to benefit .

Lets wait and see .

The creators of these loans will not be in power when they start taking every kobo from your bank account due to the linked BVN and NIN

So the next administration will get the bad name and heat.

Stay away from certain things in Nigeria bro..

What happen if the person die.
How much have being given so far.
Do we have proper record of those that receive.
What if the person don't get a proper Job. Or is self employed. Like 70% of Nigerians.
What maximum time frame is there to pay back.

What if the Person cant pay back.... What next.
Are they able to Block multiple account.


There are lot of thing just so wrong with this. The money should have be use to Create jobs...... But what Do i Know......APC and foolishness is like 5&6

Tinubu quickly ran to copy something he cannot keep up with because he knows that he won't bear the brunt.

A foolish leader who would rather build a multibillion-dollar coastal road than fix electricity is expecting students to use their blokkos to repay the loans they borrowed to attend high institutions.

While giving those student loans out, he should also build more prisons alongside for jailing the defaulters.

stuffs2002:
See as this one is in deep pain just because the NELFUND will help students from poor homes to graduate

Hahahahahaha the same rubbish things you guys said about Buhari! How far??

People are finally asking the right questions..

Benwallt:
Lots of people have graduated and not paying. Heaven never fall. Find another job

No worry, that fish wey u chook go hook your throat for freont. Lol. Una never even know where una names don dey

Benwallt:
Lots of people have graduated and not paying. Heaven never fall. Find another job

Nigerians are their own biggest problem.

Most of the people that will claim not to be able to repay the loan will use sophisticated phones, spend as high as N2000 on airtime and data on weekly basis to Facebook, do YouTube, play Nairabet an Bet9ja and all. Yet, they won’t consider that failing to repay the loan is closing the door against future students from accessing the same loan.

Meanwhile, they also know that they can do this, because opposition politicians don’t know where to draw the line. Some will come out and say the loan should have been free, even though tuition has been free in Federal institutions for years.

This scheme will fail like the previous ones if we remain like this and no political leader will be ever good enough for us.

yaroinside:
Nigeria’s student loan scheme was introduced to make higher education more accessible to students who might otherwise struggle to pay for tuition and other education-related expenses.

But as more students take loans, another question is becoming increasingly important: what happens when a graduate finishes school but cannot find a job to repay the money?

The answer is different from some of the alarming claims circulating online.

The Nigerian Education Loan Fund, NELFUND, says repayment does not begin immediately after graduation. Under its current terms, beneficiaries who participate in the National Youth Service Corps are expected to begin repayment two years after completing NYSC. Repayment is also tied to employment.

What if the graduate has a job?

For an employed graduate, NELFUND’s terms provide for repayment through deductions from salary.

The Fund’s published terms state that 10 per cent of monthly salary is deducted at source for loan repayment. Beneficiaries are also expected to update their employment information when they get a job or change employers.

This means repayment is designed to follow the graduate’s ability to earn rather than demanding immediate payment while the person is still in school.

What if there is no job?

This is where the issue becomes more complicated.

NELFUND’s FAQ states that a beneficiary who remains unemployed after the repayment period can notify the Fund through a sworn court affidavit, with the official FAQ providing for periodic confirmation of unemployment.

That is important because one of the biggest fears surrounding student loans is the possibility of graduates being pursued for money they simply do not have.

The scheme is not supposed to turn unemployment immediately into a criminal offence.

In fact, NELFUND has recently dismissed a viral claim that graduates who fail to repay their loans could face life imprisonment. The Fund described the claim as fake news.

But the debt does not simply disappear

Being unemployed does not mean the loan is automatically cancelled.

The obligation remains, and the graduate is expected to comply with NELFUND’s procedures and provide the required information concerning their employment status.

For people who eventually become employed, repayment can then begin according to the applicable rules.

Self-employed beneficiaries also have obligations. NELFUND’s terms require them to provide information about their businesses and other details needed for loan management and recovery.

The Fund also says it has legal mechanisms for recovering loans from beneficiaries who default.

Why the issue matters

The success of Nigeria’s student loan programme will ultimately depend on a delicate balance.

Government wants the money recovered so it can continue supporting future students.

Graduates, meanwhile, need enough financial stability to establish themselves after university.

A graduate earning a good salary may be able to repay without major difficulty. Someone struggling to find work or earning barely enough for food, rent and transportation faces a very different reality.

That is why the real test of the scheme will not simply be how much money NELFUND disburses.

It will be whether graduates can move from education into meaningful employment and repay without being pushed deeper into financial hardship.

NELFUND reported in May that more than 1.6 million students had received support worth over ₦206 billion since the programme began.

That is a significant expansion of education financing.

But as the number of beneficiaries grows, Nigeria will eventually face the biggest test of the programme:

Can the country create enough economic opportunities for graduates to repay the loans while still building their own lives?

If the answer is no, the student loan debate will eventually become much bigger than tuition.

It will become a debate about jobs, wages, poverty and whether education can genuinely lead to a better life.

Source: https://yaroinsider.ng/student-loans-what-happens-when-graduates-cannot-repay-2/

That’s the wrong way to look at it; thinking you won’t be able to pay is exactly what keeps people stuck in poverty.

I’m not saying there won't be any defaulters, and I’m sure the government has already factored that in, but the majority will pay it back. That repayment, combined with continued government funding, is what will make this sustainable.

Any way you look at it, it’s a win for the students, the schools, the economy, and the government.

The borrowed funds keep students in school.

The payments allow universities to invest in improvements, which boosts the quality of education and makes students more job-ready.

The projects the schools take on will pump money into the local economy, create jobs, and foster growth.

It’s a smart move by the government..

They will kill them at shooting range

They use one hand to give, then use the other hand to take it back. It's well.

Didijiji:
Hahahahahaha the same rubbish things you guys said about Buhari! How far??

I exposed your lies and you are trying to bring Buhari into it.

Come to think of it, didn't you people once claimed that Buhari was dead and that a clone called Jubrin from Sudan was the one who was ruling Nigeria at the time Buhari was president?

We know your ways and we will continue to expose your lies

stan4b:
They use one hand to give, then use the other hand to take it back. It's well.

All the OBIDIENTS have been spreading their hate and bitterness by attacking every good thing in Nigeria.

* Only OBIDIENTS hate NELFUND
* Only OBIDIENTS hate Lagos - Calabar coastal road construction
* Only OBIDIENTS hate Sokoto - Lagos road construction
* Only OBIDIENTS hate Kaduna - Kano road construction
Only OBIDIENTS hate Dangote refinery

SmartPolician:
Tinubu quickly ran to copy something he cannot keep up with because he knows that he won't bear the brunt.

A foolish leader who would rather build a multibillion-dollar coastal road than fix electricity is expecting students to use their blokkos to repay the loans they borrowed to attend high institutions.

While giving those student loans out, he should also build more prisons alongside for jailing the defaulters.

You hate and attack Nigeria yet you expect same Nigerians to vote the fraud and liar called Obi.

Peter Obi will be humiliated in the next election and he will cry as he did in 2023

yaroinside:
Nigeria’s student loan scheme was introduced to make higher education more accessible to students who might otherwise struggle to pay for tuition and other education-related expenses.

But as more students take loans, another question is becoming increasingly important: what happens when a graduate finishes school but cannot find a job to repay the money?

The answer is different from some of the alarming claims circulating online.

The Nigerian Education Loan Fund, NELFUND, says repayment does not begin immediately after graduation. Under its current terms, beneficiaries who participate in the National Youth Service Corps are expected to begin repayment two years after completing NYSC. Repayment is also tied to employment.

What if the graduate has a job?

For an employed graduate, NELFUND’s terms provide for repayment through deductions from salary.

The Fund’s published terms state that 10 per cent of monthly salary is deducted at source for loan repayment. Beneficiaries are also expected to update their employment information when they get a job or change employers.

This means repayment is designed to follow the graduate’s ability to earn rather than demanding immediate payment while the person is still in school.

What if there is no job?

This is where the issue becomes more complicated.

NELFUND’s FAQ states that a beneficiary who remains unemployed after the repayment period can notify the Fund through a sworn court affidavit, with the official FAQ providing for periodic confirmation of unemployment.

That is important because one of the biggest fears surrounding student loans is the possibility of graduates being pursued for money they simply do not have.

The scheme is not supposed to turn unemployment immediately into a criminal offence.

In fact, NELFUND has recently dismissed a viral claim that graduates who fail to repay their loans could face life imprisonment. The Fund described the claim as fake news.

But the debt does not simply disappear

Being unemployed does not mean the loan is automatically cancelled.

The obligation remains, and the graduate is expected to comply with NELFUND’s procedures and provide the required information concerning their employment status.

For people who eventually become employed, repayment can then begin according to the applicable rules.

Self-employed beneficiaries also have obligations. NELFUND’s terms require them to provide information about their businesses and other details needed for loan management and recovery.

The Fund also says it has legal mechanisms for recovering loans from beneficiaries who default.

Why the issue matters

The success of Nigeria’s student loan programme will ultimately depend on a delicate balance.

Government wants the money recovered so it can continue supporting future students.

Graduates, meanwhile, need enough financial stability to establish themselves after university.

A graduate earning a good salary may be able to repay without major difficulty. Someone struggling to find work or earning barely enough for food, rent and transportation faces a very different reality.

That is why the real test of the scheme will not simply be how much money NELFUND disburses.

It will be whether graduates can move from education into meaningful employment and repay without being pushed deeper into financial hardship.

NELFUND reported in May that more than 1.6 million students had received support worth over ₦206 billion since the programme began.

That is a significant expansion of education financing.

But as the number of beneficiaries grows, Nigeria will eventually face the biggest test of the programme:

Can the country create enough economic opportunities for graduates to repay the loans while still building their own lives?

If the answer is no, the student loan debate will eventually become much bigger than tuition.

It will become a debate about jobs, wages, poverty and whether education can genuinely lead to a better life.

Source: https://yaroinsider.ng/student-loans-what-happens-when-graduates-cannot-repay-2/

If una like make una spoil the good initiative, na poor people go suffer am.

This is a loan that doesn't carry interest on it. Can you get such anywhere? Atikulooter ADC said he would do a b and c and give it as grant. As stupid as ADC coalifusion is, they have forgotten that if they do that, the money has become a Bursary and must be given to all Nigerian students.

Tinubu till 2031. He provides loans with no interest, and yet you’re complaining while he still offers a 20k monthly stipend that you don’t need to repay. God bless PBAT!

Being unemployed in Nigeria is a scam! Most people consider working with government or big corporations/institutions is the only accepted employment.
I sighted a lady who claimed she rejected a pharmacy employment with FG because she’s already earning more than what's being offered!
So she’s employed yet still applying for jobs with FG?

stuffs2002:
All the OBIDIENTS have been spreading their hate and bitterness by attacking every good thing in Nigeria.

* Only OBIDIENTS hate NELFUND
* Only OBIDIENTS hate Lagos - Calabar coastal road construction
* Only OBIDIENTS hate Sokoto - Lagos road construction
* Only OBIDIENTS hate Kaduna - Kano road construction
Only OBIDIENTS hate Dangote refinery

If you watch most of Tinubu critics, they only criticize Lagos Calabar coastal road meant for the opening up of Niger Delta states. They refrain from criticizing Sokoto Badagry highway bcoz they know that the North would react in one voice.

I've listened to Obi criticism about Lagos Calabar coastal road. I challenge Obi to come out and criticize Sokoto Badagry highway if he gets mind. Obi na woman. Let him speak against Sokoto Badagry highway if he's a man.

I've also watched Donald Duke on channel TV with seun okinbaloye criticizing Lagos Calabar coastal road that passed through his state but he never said a word against the Sokoto Badagry highway. Why? Hypocrisy. They dare not go there.

Is it that Niger Delta states doesn't deserve the road? The chicken that lays the golden eggs? Nigeria politicians especially obidients NDC are unfair to Niger Delta states.