Are public varsities hiking fees to push students towards NELFUND?

Amid ongoing reforms in the education sector, the rising tuition in public universities has triggered speculation that the move may be designed to drive more students toward accessing the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND), an interest-free loan scheme.

But

Many federal universities are now competing with private universities in tuition and other categories of fees. This development raises critical questions about policy intentions and affordability, as it attracts wide outcry from parents and stakeholders who complain that they are unable to pay the high fees now being charged.

Naomi Frank, a 100-level student at the University of Lagos (UNILAG), Akoka, said they were asked to pay N240,000 for science courses, and N210,000 for non-science courses.

Michelle Nwokeoma, a 100-level student in the Faculty of Law, told BusinessDay that she paid N271,000 in all payments. However, before the current academic session, UNILAG’s payment structure was, students in non-laboratory courses were paying a total sum of N100,750, students offering laboratory courses paid a total sum of N140,250, while medical students were asked to pay N190,250.

With the payment structure, students in laboratory courses had an increase of 108 percent, while those in laboratory courses got 71 percent hike.

At the Federal University of Technology, Owerri (FUTO), Emmanuella Obike, a 100-level student, narrated how she was made to pay the sum of N180,000, against the old fees.

Chukwunso Ezeh, a 400-level student, said he paid N128,000 as against N62,500.

Mercy Ubong, a 300-level student of the University of Benin (UNIBEN), lamented the fees increase, which she said was forcing students to go for loans against their will.

“The school management is adamant on fees hike, and are always insisting that we can collect loans from NELFUND to foot our fees if we do not have the money.

“I think this is not proper, tertiary institutions should be making life difficult for students simply because of the loan scheme,” she said.

However, Amaka Nwachukwu, a student in the Department of Microbiology, said she was not aware of the new fees structure at UNIBEN because the portal was yet open for payment.

In 2024/25 academic session, UNIBEN pegged N190,000 fees for science students, as against N73,000, about 38.4 percent increase, while non-science students are to pay N170,000 against the usual N69,000, about 40 percent hike.

Some parents alleged that the hike in the fees was aimed at pushing more people to go for the NELFUND which they fear amounts to mortgaging their future.

Gift Osikoya, a mother with children in public universities, described the recent trend of some public tertiary institutions drastically increasing their fees and then encouraging students to rely on student loans as a worrisome development.

“While student loans can help many students access education, the way it is being positioned raises important questions.

“First, the sudden and astronomical fee hikes defeat the purpose of public education, which is supposed to remain affordable for the average Nigerian family,” she said.

She emphasised that many parents are already struggling with the rising cost of living, and pushing them toward loans only creates more financial pressure.

“Student loans may create long-term implications for young people; graduates may leave school with significant debt even before they secure stable jobs.

“In an economy where unemployment and underemployment are high, this could lead to financial stress, delayed life decisions, and a cycle of debt that affects their future,” Osikoya noted.

Moreover, she said that the situation fuels an increased inequality gap, stressing that students from lower-income families may begin to withdraw or give up on higher education entirely, which is dangerous for national development.

Christopher Nmeribe, a parent, decried the fee hike, which he said was fueled by the student loan introduction, which he described as the same old story of giving with one hand and collecting with the other.

Read also: NELFUND unveils student loan guidelines, warns tertiary institutions against fraud, overpayment breaches

“Unfortunately, those who should be protecting the students are the same ones exploiting them. It’s so disgusting, especially considering that these are public schools which receive funds from the same government,” he noted.

Oluwafunmilayo Usifo, a mother of three with her first child in 300-level, lamented the fee hike and said her business cannot keep up with the increase in school fees.

“I don’t know where they want us to get the money. The federal government said there’s no tuition charge in federal universities, but some university managements are doing what they like.

“They want us to go and take the loan by force; how can we be forced into debts that are like selling out the future of the child before he graduates. Student loans should not be the reason to increase fees; the federal government should step in,” she said.

Sunday Agbai, whose son is in 200-level in one of the federal government universities, condemned what he called the craftiness of university managements, by forcing students to apply for the loan latently via fee increases.

“This is unfair to the students, and parents as well, with the fees competing with that of private universities. What are we saying, the public institutions are no longer serving the purposes, one of them is tertiary education access.

“The schools are lacking in qualities, yet the fees are competing with those that have the qualities. Someone is not telling us the truth. How many of the VCs have their children in these universities? This is day-robbery,” he stated.

However, Isaiah Ogundele, a teacher and parent, believes the public university managements are increasing the fees because the federal allocations for the educational sector in the annual budget is nothing to write home about.

“Many of our public university laboratories are empty. In the past, students always travelled for exchange programmes abroad but nowadays it is not the same,” he said.

Some Nigerians who spoke with BusinessDaySunday expressed the opinion that the loan may not be repayable after all. According to them, successive governments and administrations lacked the culture of keeping records and the current government that floated the NELFUND may not want to be called into question tomorrow on the disbursed money and who obtained what.

“My mind is telling me it is a bazaar. Nobody will be held accountable for the loan. That is why I advise any student close to me to go for the loan. It is the money that belongs to everyone of us as citizens. Anybody who refuses to get it may find out tomorrow that he or she shot himself/herself in the foot. It is one of those freebies that the government doles out. Who can tell the actual money released for this? The figure will always be inflated multiple times,” a retired lecturer, who craved anonymity, said. (BusinessDay)

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