The Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) has raised alarm over fresh tuition hikes in several universities and polytechnics, warning that the increases—ranging from 20 per cent to an astronomical 521 per cent—risk undermining the federal government’s student loan programme.
A confidential document from the Fund’s risk management revealed that the sharp rise in charges—particularly for Medicine, Nursing, and Law—has left students drowning in debt while straining the Fund’s ability to sustain disbursements.
The report, titled “Framework to Mitigate the Impact of Increased Institutional Charges on the Fund’s Operations,” listed institutions guilty of extreme fee hikes, including the University of Ilesha (Osun), Ekiti State University, University of Medical Sciences (Ondo), Edo State University, Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (Oyo), and David Umahi Federal University of Health Sciences (Ebonyi).
This comes just months after 51 institutions were accused of illegal deductions from student loans, and shortly after NELFUND rejected applications from 10 schools for raising fees by as much as 900 per cent.
The new figures are staggering. At Edo State University, a medical student is now expected to spend over N51 million in tuition alone across six years of study. At the University of Medical Sciences, Ondo, Nursing fees jumped by 149 per cent from N900,000 to N2.245 million, while LAUTECH raised Medicine from N126,000 to N782,000—a record 521 per cent hike.
Even state polytechnics are not exempt. Kogi State Polytechnic reportedly raised charges by between 115 and more than 1,000 per cent, while Federal University Oye-Ekiti (FUOYE) increased by up to 120 per cent.
To cushion the blow, the Fund’s committee has recommended pausing disbursements to institutions with excessive hikes, capping loan amounts, or suspending support entirely for schools where increases exceed 100 per cent pending review.
It also proposed a long-term framework: national tuition fee guidelines, a public fee-tracking portal, and whistleblower channels for students to report exploitative charges.
So far, NELFUND says it has disbursed N107.6 billion to 581,878 students, with N61.3 billion paid directly to institutions as fees.
The hikes have triggered protests across campuses, with parents and student unions calling for urgent intervention.
“unchecked tuition hikes will frustrate President Tinubu’s effort to support indigent students,” describing the trend as “a corrupt tendency.” A parent warned
The National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) has also threatened mass action, accusing institutions of hiding behind the loan scheme to impose unjustifiable charges. “They assume the loan will cover everything,” said NANS PRO Adeyemi Ajasa, “but not all students can access loans—and even those who do must repay.”
Education analysts fear the loan programme could become a “debt trap” rather than a safety net. The Education Rights Campaign (ERC) argues that by encouraging loans, the government is commercialising education while underfunding public institutions.
But institutions insist the hikes reflect Nigeria’s harsh economic realities. University of Ilesha spokesperson, Babatunde Fanawopo, argued that “nothing good comes cheap,” stressing that programmes in Education and Agriculture remain tuition-free. Officials from FUNAAB and DUFUHS also defended the increases as necessary to maintain academic quality.
The Ministry of Education, however, says its hands may be tied since education is on the concurrent legislative list. Director of Press and Public Relations, Folasade Boriowo, explained that while the federal government seeks to guarantee access, states and institutions have autonomy in setting fees.
For now, the standoff continues: institutions defending their hikes, students rejecting them, and NELFUND caught in the middle—struggling to balance its books while keeping Nigeria’s dream of accessible higher education alive.