In 2024, the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) announced that they would start offering the NSFAS Missing Middle Loan as part of their Comprehensive Student Funding Model.
This NSFAS loan is for both undergraduate and postgraduate students and is geared towards students who don't qualify for NSFAS bursaries.
What level of postgraduate students does the NSFAS loan intend to fund?
Strategic Enablement Executive at NSFAS, Vuyokazi Mafilika, explained:
The loan scheme intends to cover all-encompassing postgraduate qualifications. We are mindful and have been in conversation with the Department of Higher Education that we need to expand further for postgraduate students.
She continued to explain, "There are concerns around funding for postgraduate research-based qualifications. As part of strengthening the policy document we are expanding provisions for postgraduate funding and the requirements thereof".
Once students are approved, they would need to sign a NSFAS loan agreement. If the students perform well, up to 50% of the student loan can be converted to a bursary.
Rejected NSFAS bursary applicants will automatically be re-assessed for eligibility under the missing middle loan scheme.
NSFAS missing middle loans will have a particular emphasis on Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) programmes, constituting 70% of beneficiaries. The remaining 30% will be allocated to Humanities and social science programmes.
