EXHIBIT 31.1

     CERTIFICATION PURSUANT TO SECTION 302 OF THE SARBANES-OXLEY ACT OF 2002


        I, Terry J. Heimes, certify that:

        1. I have reviewed this quarterly report on Form 10-Q of Nelnet
Education Loan Funding, Inc. (the "Company");

        2. Based on my knowledge, this quarterly report does not contain any
untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary
to make the statements made, in light of the circumstances under which such
statements were made, not misleading with respect to the period covered by this
quarterly report;

        3. Based on my knowledge, the financial statements, and other financial
information included in this quarterly report, fairly present in all material
respects the financial condition, results of operations and cash flows of the
Company as of, and for, the periods presented in this quarterly report;

        4. The Company's other certifying officer and I are responsible for
establishing and maintaining disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in
Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e)) for the Company and have:

             (a) Designed such disclosure controls and procedures, or caused
such disclosure controls and procedures to be designed under our supervision, to
ensure that material information relating to the Company is made known to us by
others, particularly during the period in which the quarterly report is being
prepared;

             (b) Evaluated the effectiveness of the Company's disclosure
controls and procedures and presented in this quarterly report our conclusions
about the effectiveness of the disclosure controls and procedures, as of the end
of the period covered by this quarterly report based on such evaluation; and

             (c) Disclosed in this report any change in the registrant's
internal control over financial reporting that occurred during the Company's
most recent fiscal quarter that has materially affected, or is reasonably likely
to materially affect, the Company's internal control over financial reporting;
and

        5. The Company's other certifying officer and I have disclosed, based on
our most recent evaluation of internal control over financial reporting, to the
Company's auditors and the audit committee of the Company's board of directors
(or persons performing the equivalent function):

             (a) All significant deficiencies and material weaknesses in the
design or operation of internal control over financial reporting which are
reasonably likely to adversely affect the Company's ability to record, process,
summarize, and report financial information; and

             (b) Any fraud, whether or not material, that involves management or
other employees who have a significant role in the registrant's internal control
over financial reporting.


    Date:  May 17, 2004                 /S/ TERRY J. HEIMES
                                        ---------------------------------------
                                        Terry J. Heimes
                                        President (Principal Executive Officer)