The House of Representatives has ordered an investigation into recent increases in fees charged by public tertiary institutions, warning that rising costs could undermine efforts to make higher education accessible through the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND).
The lawmakers also urged the Federal Government to work with tertiary institution managers to suspend the latest increases and review charges in line with prevailing economic conditions.
The resolutions followed the adoption of a motion sponsored by the Chairman of the House Committee on Student Loans, Scholarships and Higher Education Financing, Ifeoluwa Ehindero, during plenary on Tuesday.
As part of the intervention, the House called on the Federal Ministry of Education and the National Universities Commission (NUC) to engage institutional authorities on the fee increases. It also urged the government to provide greater financial support to public tertiary institutions to reduce their dependence on payments from students.
Presenting the motion, Ehindero said NELFUND was established to provide interest-free loans to eligible students facing financial constraints and help them pursue higher education.
He argued that steep increases in tuition-related charges could weaken the scheme’s ability to achieve that objective, particularly where institutions’ new fee structures exceed the benchmarks and cost assumptions used in determining students’ financing needs.
The lawmaker said several public universities, polytechnics and colleges of education had raised tuition-related and compulsory charges, with some reported increases exceeding 100 per cent.
He expressed concern that some institutions had introduced the new charges without adequate consultation or sufficient consideration of the financial difficulties confronting Nigerian households.
Ehindero warned that continued increases could leave students from low-income families struggling to meet expenses not adequately covered by available loans. He also identified the risk of rising dropout rates, campus unrest and declining public confidence in government efforts to expand access to tertiary education.
To establish the extent of the increases and determine their justification, the House mandated its Committees on University Education, Federal Polytechnics and Higher Technical Education, and Federal Colleges of Education to investigate the matter.
The lawmakers’ intervention comes amid continuing concerns over the cost of attending public tertiary institutions. Although the Federal Government clarified in 2023 that federal universities remained tuition-free, students continued to pay other charges, including registration, accommodation and laboratory fees. Several institutions subsequently increased such charges amid rising operational costs.
NELFUND also raised concerns in 2025 over sharp fee increases at some institutions, reporting cases in which charges had risen by as much as 900 per cent. The fund said it had flagged applications involving 10 institutions while seeking clarification on the increases.
The latest House resolutions seek to address the tension between the financial needs of tertiary institutions and students’ ability to pay, with lawmakers warning that rising charges could weaken the impact of a loan scheme designed to reduce financial barriers to higher education.
