The Student Loan Trust Fund (SLTF) has pushed back against what it describes as sustained misinformation about the implementation of the government’s No-Fees-Stress Policy, insisting that the initiative has already provided significant financial relief to hundreds of thousands of tertiary students and their families.
In a statement signed by its Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Shiraz Saajida, the SLTF said the policy is not a single intervention but a package of four measures aimed at reducing the financial burden of tertiary education.
The measures are the No-Academic-Fees Policy, Free Tertiary Education for Persons with Disabilities, Students Loan Plus and the Traditional Student Loan.
The government introduced the No-Fees-Stress Policy as part of efforts to make tertiary education more accessible and reduce the cost pressures faced by students and their families.
No-Academic-Fees Policy
Under the No-Academic-Fees component, government covers the academic fees of first-year students admitted to public tertiary institutions.
Although the policy was scheduled to take effect from September 2025, the SLTF said government extended the intervention to students enrolled during the 2024/25 academic year, resulting in the reimbursement of academic fees to 152,698 first-year students.
For the 2025/26 academic year, government adopted a direct-to-institution payment model on a pilot basis following stakeholder consultations.
The SLTF said 168,982 beneficiaries have so far been paid under the scheme, including 45,127 first-year students in public Colleges of Education, Colleges of Agriculture and Health Training Institutions whose fees were paid directly to their institutions.
Free Tertiary Education for Persons with Disabilities
The SLTF also said 1,623 students with disabilities have received full tuition and residential support for the 2025/26 academic year.
The support is being paid directly to their institutions, with stipends and assistive learning devices expected to follow.
The Fund added that students with disabilities who are already beneficiaries of SLTF loans are currently being considered for loan forgiveness.
Students Loan Plus
The government has also expanded student financing through Students Loan Plus, which provides full-fee-coverage loans paid directly to institutions.
The scheme has also extended eligibility to students of the Ghana School of Law.
According to the SLTF, 1,997 students, including 626 Ghana School of Law students, have so far benefited, with GH¢20.76 million disbursed.
The SLTF Board is also considering extending Students Loan Plus to graduate programmes, including the Graduate Entry Medical Programme, from the 2026/27 academic year.
Enhanced traditional student loans
The traditional student loan has also been revised, with the maximum loan amounts increased by 50 per cent, from between GH¢1,500 and GH¢3,000 to GH¢2,250 and GH¢4,500.
The interest rate during the study and moratorium periods has been reduced from 12 per cent compound interest to six per cent simple interest.
For the 2025/26 academic year, the SLTF said 59,307 students have received enhanced loans amounting to GH¢210.61 million.
The Fund said the repayment-period interest rate has also fallen from as high as 14 per cent compound interest to approximately 7.3 per cent, linked to the Treasury bill rate plus two percentage points.
SLTF: “Facts are on the record”
The SLTF said the four components of the No-Fees-Stress Policy have collectively reached 321,680 beneficiaries, describing the figure as evidence of the policy’s impact.
It said the No-Academic-Fees component alone has returned close to GH¢1 billion to families that would otherwise have faced difficulties financing tertiary education.
“The facts are on the record. Let them stand,” Dr. Saajida said, while assuring students and the public that the SLTF would continue to implement the policy transparently and in the interest of Ghanaian students.
Source: www.kumasimail.com
