The Students Loan Trust Fund (SLTF) has disclosed that more than 52,000 first-year tertiary students have so far benefited from the government’s “No Academic Fees” initiative for the 2025/2026 academic year as efforts intensify to reduce the financial burden on students entering public institutions.
The latest disbursements, according to the Fund, form part of the government’s “No-Fees-Stress” policy aimed at ensuring that no qualified Ghanaian student is denied access to tertiary education because of financial constraints.
Chief Executive Officer of the SLTF, Dr Saajida Shiraz, disclosed in an interview with the Ghana News Agency that the Fund received 184,489 admission records from 163 public tertiary institutions for first-year admissions for the 2025/2026 academic year.
Out of that figure, she said 161,170 students had successfully completed their validation processes and were currently being prepared for payment.
Dr Shiraz explained that the SLTF had introduced a direct-to-institution disbursement model for students in Colleges of Education, Colleges of Agriculture and Health Training Institutions under a hybrid implementation arrangement.
Under the system, academic fees for 41,007 students have already been paid directly to 137 institutions, while an additional 11,000 first-year students in public universities and technical universities have also had their fees fully settled.
The SLTF boss further revealed that the Fund had introduced a “No-Fees-Stress” status checker on its website to enable students track their validation and reimbursement status.
She explained that the platform was designed to improve transparency, strengthen accountability and ensure fairness in the disbursement process.
Despite the progress, some students of the Accra Technical University told the Ghana News Agency they were yet to receive reimbursements for the 2024/2025 academic year despite completing all required processes.
The Fund, however, assured that all outstanding beneficiaries would be paid in subsequent phases after full validation of their documents.
Government has allocated GH¢537 million in the 2026 Budget to support the “No-Fees-Stress” policy, alongside an additional GH¢25 million earmarked for free tertiary education for persons living with disabilities.
