Student loan in Nigeria

Have you been asking This questions| how to apply for Student loan in Nigeria?, Requirements for student loan in Nigeria, procedure to apply for student loans in Nigeria. We will provide answerers to these questions in this post.

 TThe President, of Nigeria  Bola Tinubu,   On Monday, June 12, 2023, signed into law the Student Loan Bill. The bill, which will enable Nigerian students to have access to interest-free loans, was introduced by the outgoing speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila.

What is a Student Loan?

Before we continue let's have an idea of what student loan is:

A student loan is a type of loan to help students pay for educational fees. This loan differs from other kinds of loans in the sense that the interest rate is relatively lower, and the repayment schedule is much more flexible, but in the case of the newly signed bill by the federal government, it's an interest-free loan.

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE STUDENT LOAN

1. The Act provides an interest-free loan for indigent Nigerian students in which beneficiaries will only pay back the amount they collect.

2. The Act offers loans for indigent Nigerian students seeking higher education in government-owned universities, polytechnics, and colleges of education in the country.

3. The Act enables all indigent Nigerian students to have equal rights to access the loan without any form of discrimination arising from gender, religion, tribe, position, or disability of any kind.

4. The Act states that the loan shall be given to indigent Nigerian students only to pay tuition fees. 

5, The Act stipulates that there shall be the establishment of a Nigerian Education Loan Futo providing education for all Nigerians.

Here are the requirements that indigent Nigerian students will meet to be eligible for the Students Loan: 

1. The student applicants applying for loans under the Act shall apply to the Chairman of the Bank through their respective institutions upon satisfaction of the following conditions.

2. Students who have defaulted on previous loans; found guilty of exam malpractice, or drug offenses will not be granted loans.

3. The student applying for the student loan must have gotten admission into any of the Nigerian government's own universities, polytechnics, colleges of education, or any vocational school established by the Federal Government or the government of any State of the Federation.

4. The student applying for the loan or family income must be less than N500,000  per annum.

5. The student applicants must provide at least two guarantors: each of the guarantors must

 be a civil servant of not less than level 12 in the service; or a lawyer with at least 10 (ten) years post-call experience; a Judicial officer; or a Justice Peace.

5. The student applicants must provide at least two guarantors: each of the guarantors must be a civil servant of not less than level 12 in the service; or a lawyer with at least 10 (ten) years post-call experience; a Judicial officer; or a Justice Peace.

It is widely known that education is pivotal to the economic growth and development of any nation, and this Act will be one of the mechanisms to overhaul the educational system in Nigeria.