SLTF-GH-20260927In the 2025/26 academic year, the Students Loan Trust Fund (SLTF) lends Ghanaian undergraduates GH₵2,250 to GH₵4,500 a year. Interest is 6% simple while you study and through the moratorium, and no guarantor is needed. Once repayment starts, the rate is linked to the Treasury bill rate plus two percentage points. SLTF put it at about 7.3% in its statement of 20 August 2026. The 2025/26 application window has closed, and SLTF says it will announce when applications for 2026/27 open.
The detail most first-year families miss is that this loan and the No-Academic-Fees grant are separate things, and a student can have both. The grant pays academic fees for Level 100 students in public institutions and is never repaid. The loan is paid to the student for hostel fees, books and upkeep, which the grant does not touch. Families who assume "fees are free now" often skip the loan and then struggle with rent. Others expect the loan to clear the fee bill, which it was never designed to do.
What changed between 2025 and 2026
SLTF's reforms were announced in November 2025 and restated in its 20 August 2026 statement "Setting the Record Straight on the No-Fees-Stress Policy". Together they rewrote almost every term of the loan.
| Term | Before the reform | 2025/26 |
|---|---|---|
| Traditional loan per academic year | GH₵1,500–3,000 | GH₵2,250–4,500 |
| Interest while studying and in moratorium | 12%, compounding | 6%, simple |
| Interest during repayment | as high as 14%, compounding | about 7.3% (Treasury bill rate + 2 points) |
| Guarantor | required until the June 2022 no-guarantor policy | none; identity via Ghana Card, history via credit bureaus |
| Disbursement account | personal e-zwich card mandatory | e-zwich no longer mandatory; a GCB Bank account is set up for new applicants |
| Full-fee loans | none | Students Loan Plus, paid straight to the institution |
Simple interest is the change with the biggest money effect. On the old terms, interest was added to the balance every year and then charged interest itself. At 6% simple, only the amount you actually borrowed ever attracts interest.
The four parts of No-Fees-Stress, and where the loan fits
SLTF now runs four programmes under the government's No-Fees-Stress policy. By August 2026 they had reached 321,680 students. The 2026 Budget set aside GH₵537 million for the policy, plus GH₵25 million for free tertiary education for persons with disabilities.
- No-Academic-Fees: a grant covering academic fees for first-year students admitted to public tertiary institutions. For 2024/25, 152,698 first-years were validated and refunded. By August 2026, 168,982 had been paid for 2025/26. For 45,127 of them, at 137 public colleges of education, agriculture and health training, the money went directly to the institution as a pilot.
- Free tertiary education for persons with disabilities: 1,623 students in 2025/26 had tuition and residence paid in full to their institutions. Borrowers with disabilities already on SLTF's books are being considered for loan forgiveness.
- Students Loan Plus: a repayable loan that covers the full fee and is paid to the institution. By August 2026 it had reached 1,997 students, 626 of them at the Ghana School of Law, with GH₵20,762,175.19 disbursed. SLTF's board is looking at graduate programmes, including the Graduate Entry Medical Programme, for 2026/27.
- Enhanced traditional loan: the loan this page is about. In 2025/26, 59,307 students received GH₵210,610,800 between them. That works out at about GH₵3,550 a head, near the middle of the range.
Who qualifies, and who does not
You must be a Ghanaian citizen with a Ghana Card, admitted to an accredited diploma or first-degree programme at an accredited institution. Private universities and colleges count if both the institution and the programme are accredited by the Ghana Tertiary Education Commission. SLTF's eligibility guidance is explicit on study modes: evening and weekend students may apply, but sandwich programme students may not.
Postgraduates are outside the traditional loan; their only route is Students Loan Plus, if it opens to their programme. A second undergraduate degree needs SLTF's approval in advance. A borrower already in default and reported to the credit bureaus will not get another facility until the old debt is settled.
How much you get, and when it arrives
Where you land within GH₵2,250–4,500 is decided by a needs assessment. SLTF weighs the socio-economic information in the application together with your programme and level of study. Needier students and those on costlier courses are placed nearer the top. The money comes in two tranches a year, one per semester. SLTF announced the start of second-semester disbursements for 2025/26 in June 2026.
Before any payment, you complete biometric capture at an SLTF campus or zonal office, and SLTF checks your name against the enrolment list your institution submits. Because payment depends on that match, check that your Ghana Card number, name and programme are entered exactly as they appear on your admission records. A mistyped digit is enough to hold a tranche back until it is corrected.
Applying for 2026/27
Applications are made only through SLTF's official channels at sltf.gov.gh, and they open at the beginning of each academic year. You need your Ghana Card, your admission letter or student ID, and a personal phone number and email address. You then attend biometric verification in person. Treat any other website, agent or social-media page offering to "process" an SLTF loan with suspicion. The Fund's own site lists its campus and zonal offices.
What borrowing actually costs
A first-year loan on a four-year degree is typically held for about six years before repayment starts. That covers the rest of the programme, a year of national service and a grace year. Here is what a GH₵4,500 first-year loan accrues over those six years on the old and new terms.
| GH₵4,500 held for six years | Interest added | Balance when repayment starts |
|---|---|---|
| Old terms: 12% compounding | about GH₵4,382 | about GH₵8,882 |
| New terms: 6% simple | GH₵1,620 | GH₵6,120 |
Repayment length follows how many years you borrowed. SLTF's schedule gives two years of repayment per loan year, up to a ceiling of ten years. So one loan is repaid over 2 years and four loans over 8, while five or more loans get the full 10.
After the moratorium, the rate floats with Treasury bills. SLTF's repayment schedule names the 182-day Government of Ghana bill as the benchmark. The Bank of Ghana's data show that bill at 12.62% in January 2026. At the 18 September 2026 tender it cleared at 6.49%. That fall is why the repayment rate has come down so far. It can also rise again, so paying ahead while bills are cheap locks in savings. Our guide to fixed deposit and Treasury bill rates in Ghana tracks where those yields are now.
Repaying, and what happens if you do not
Repayment begins after you finish your programme, complete national service and use your grace year. You can pay earlier, during study or service, and every early cedi cuts the interest. The official channels are partner banks (GCB, NIB, Ecobank, GTBank and ADB), card payment on SLTF's portal, SLTF's mobile money short code published on sltf.gov.gh, and salary deduction. Quote your Social Security number or Ghana Card number with each payment. If you leave or are withdrawn from your programme before completing it, the balance falls due early.
Salary deduction is written into the Students Loan Trust Fund Act, 2011 (Act 820). Under section 24, an employer must ask a new hire with Ghanaian tertiary education whether they owe SLTF and tell the Fund within 30 days. It must then deduct the agreed monthly amount and pay it over within 15 days. An employer that deducts but does not remit owes interest plus a 5% penalty. Section 37 makes failure to deduct or remit an offence, with directors and managers personally liable.
Default is costly. After six cumulative months unpaid, SLTF sends a demand notice. If that is ignored, it publishes the borrower's name in a national daily with a one-month deadline. Failure to pay after publication counts as a Circuit Court judgment for the debt plus 5% costs. SLTF has also reported borrowers to Bank of Ghana-licensed credit bureaus since joining the credit reporting system in 2021. A default will show up when you later apply for a car loan or mortgage, as our guide to XDS Data, one of Ghana's credit bureaus, explains.
One protection runs the other way. The Students Loan Protection Scheme cancels the outstanding balance if a borrower dies or becomes permanently disabled, so the debt does not pass to the family. It does not cover a loan that was already in default at the time.