By Kodjo Adams
Accra, May 15, GNA – The Students Loan Trust Fund (SLTF) has announced that 52,007 students have so far benefited from the “No Academic Fees” initiative for the 2025/2026 academic year.
For the 2024/2025 academic year, 152,698 students were successfully validated and reimbursed out of 178,745 applications received from public tertiary institutions for first-year enrolment.
The Fund assured the public that the remaining beneficiaries would be paid in subsequent phases after their documents had been fully validated.
Dr Saajida Shiraz, the Chief Executive Officer of the Fund, disclosed this in an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in Accra.
She said a total of 184,489 admission records were received from 163 public tertiary institutions nationwide for first-year students admitted for the 2025/2026 academic year.
Dr Shiraz said 161,170 students had so far successfully validated their information and were currently being processed for payment.
The Fund, she explained, had introduced a direct-to-institution disbursement model for students enrolled in Colleges of Education, Colleges of Agriculture, and Health Training institutions as part of the hybrid implementation plan for the 2025/2026 academic year.
“Under this model, academic fees for 41,007 students have been paid directly to 137 institutions,” she said.
The model had also completed academic fee payments for the first batch of 11,000 first-year students in public universities and technical universities.
Dr Shiraz said the initiative reflected the Fund’s commitment to ensuring that no eligible Ghanaian student was denied access to tertiary education because of financial constraints.
She commended stakeholders for their continued cooperation and support in implementing the initiative, which she said was bringing relief to many parents and guardians.
The CEO further disclosed that the Fund had developed an No-Fees-Stress status checker on its website, www.sltf.gov.gh, to enable students to check their validation and reimbursement status.
She said the platform was to ensure due diligence, and reaffirmed the Fund’s commitment to making public funds accessible, inclusive, and equitable.
Some students of the Accra Technical University who spoke to the GNA said they were yet to receive reimbursement for the 2024/2025 academic year despite completing all required processes.
They appealed to the leadership of the Fund to expedite action on their concerns.
The Government, in the 2026 Budget, allocated GH¢537 million to the “No-Fees-Stress” policy and an additional GH¢25 million for free tertiary education for persons living with disability.
The “No-Fees-Stress” policy, launched in July 2025, is designed to improve equitable access to tertiary education for Ghanaian students.
The “No Academic Fee” Policy, a component of the “No Fees Stress”, removes upfront academic user fees for all first-year students in public tertiary institutions
GNA
Edited by Agnes Boye-Doe
Reporter: Kodjo Adams