The Student Loan Trust Fund (SLTF) has been commended for the swift release of second-semester disbursements in 2025, a first since the COVID‑19 pandemic, prompting vigorous praise from civil society.

The SLTF began distributing funds on 1 July, reaching 19,703 tertiary students, with priority given to those in private institutions, before the ‘No‑Fees‑Stress’ initiative was launched on Friday, July 4.

The CEO of STLF, Dr Saajida Shiraz, commented: “The days when the Trust Fund approved students for loans it couldn’t disburse are over. The revamped SLTF is now working diligently each day to fulfil its mandate of providing timely financial support to students.”

The expedited release follows a period of significant delays. In 2023, slow disbursement schedules caused arrears spanning up to a full academic year. However, reforms—including increasing SLTF’s share of GETFund appear to be bearing fruit.

Africa Education Watch’s Executive Director, Kofi Asare, took to Facebook to praise this progress, noting: “I am happy to note that in 2025, while in the 2nd Semester, the student loan trust fund has disbursed 2nd Semester loans to close to 20k students in both public and private tertiary institutions. First time post-COVID.”

He added that this acceleration was a direct result of advocacy embedded in manifesto discussions with both the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and (NDC), as well as initial engagements with the Minister for Education:

“The expedited disbursement of student loans featured strongly in our manifesto engagement… I am happy to note…”

Asare hailed the “financial re-engineering” by increasing SLTF’s share of GETFund, describing it as a strategic move whose benefits are now evident.

He asserted that “this is great progress that must be acknowledged and sustained,” and urged that the next focus should be increasing loan amounts to meet the real costs of tertiary education.

What this mean for students

Nearly 20,000 students have been validated and funded on time, eliminating the pre-semester financial stress that historically plagued applicants.

The CSO calls for the SLTF to maintain its responsiveness and to continue adapting disbursement amounts to cover rising educational expenses.

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