The Students Loan Trust Fund (SLF) has successfully disbursed academic fees support to an additional 29,687 first-year students under President John Dramani Mahama's No Fees Stress initiative for the 2025/2026 academic year.
The latest disbursement brings the total number of beneficiaries to 101,905 students out of the 170,425 students who have successfully validated their data from the 187,733 records received from 163 public tertiary institutions nationwide.
Eligible
"As part of efforts to ensure that no eligible student is left behind, the SLF has modified the No Fees Stress Portal to enable students who were previously unable to validate their records due to earlier attempts to access support during the 2024/25 window to now complete their applications, provided they did not receive any prior support," a statement made available from the SLF to the Daily Graphic and signed by the Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Dr Saajida Shiraz, said.
Deadline
Consequently, it said the deadline for the validation of student records had been extended to May 31, 2026.
The SLF encouraged all eligible first-year students to take advantage of the opportunity and complete their applications promptly.
The fund, it said, remained fully committed to concluding all academic fee disbursements by the end of June 2026 and "appreciates the continued cooperation and support of stakeholders in the successful implementation of this important initiative".
Initiative
The No Fees Stress initiative was launched by President John Mahama in Koforidua on Friday, July 4, 2025.
Among other things, he said the policy was aimed at removing financial barriers that prevent qualified students from enrolling in public universities, technical universities, nursing training colleges and colleges of education.
It guarantees full academic fee payment for all first-year students enrolled in public tertiary institutions.
At the launch, the President said the policy would contribute to long-term national development by improving access to higher education and building a more productive workforce.
