A few months have passed since the National Student Financial Aid Scheme announced that there would be changes in its funding model. One of these changes is that students will now receive their allowances directly through their NSFAS bank account.
This has been implemented to ensure that students are able to receive their allowances on time and avoid any security risk related to their monthly allowances. February earlier this Higher Education MInister, Blade Nzimande announced that NSFAS allowances would increase by 5%.
Living And Personal Care Monthly Allowances
Nzimande added that living allowances would also see a 10% increase adjusted for inflation within the 2023/24 budget allocation for the bursary scheme. This means that all NSFAS funded students will now receive a monthly living allowance of R1, 650.
Distant university students who are enrolled for a course with a credit load that is equivalent to that of a full-time course will qualify for an annual personal care allowance that amounts to R3,045. This addition to an annual meal allowance of R12, 705.
Distance learning students must be enrolled for a minimum of 120 course credits to qualify for the above-mentioned personal care allowance of R3, 054 a year. In addition to this, distance learning students who are enrolled for less than 60 course credits will only qualify for a learning materials allowance.
Accommodation Allowances
NSFAS funded TVET college students residing in campus owned self-catered residences will receive an annual accommodation allowance of R54, 000.
TVET college students residing in private accommodation will receive a living allowance of R6,000, a personal care allowance of R3,045 and a R45,500 accommodation allowance
It is also worth noting that students can either be eligible for an accommodation allowance or travel allowance. Regarding accommodation allowances, students residing in accredited private accommodation will receive an annual allowance of R45 000 in accordance with the newly introduced price cap.
Students living in institution-catered accommodation qualify for a maximum allowance capped at R60,750 per annum (accommodation allowance that is inclusive of the living allowance and personal care).
NSFAS has also reiterated its call to students who are yet to register their NSFAS bank accounts to do so as soon as possible. For this, students must follow each step on how to on board their myNSFAS profile on their respective bank account
