The National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) will fund more than 1.2 million deserving students during the 2024 academic year. However, the scheme rejected hundreds of thousands of bursary applications from students.
NSFAS offers comprehensive bursaries and student loans to deserving students enrolled in approved courses at public universities and TVET colleges. This funding includes money for tuition and registration fees as well as several allowances for students.
The Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET) confirmed more than 1,9 million bursary applications for the 2024 academic year. Of these, 1.2 million were approved.
It was also revealed that 230,669 NSFAS bursary applications were rejected. Individuals whose applications were rejected were allowed to submit a NSFAS appeal.
The DHET explained that many of the students who were rejected by NSFAS were because they exceeded the household income threshold of R350,000. Another common reason for rejected NSFAS bursary applications was students exceeding the N+Rule.
It has been revealed that only 8,3% of unsuccessful applicants have the opportunity to submit a NSFAS appeal. This equates to 19,149 appeals received by NSFAS. Applicants have 30 days from when they were rejected to submit a NSFAS appeal.
Alternative Funding For Students Who Exceed Household Income Threshold
Unsuccessful NSFAS applicants who exceed the household income threshold are encouraged to apply for the NSFAS missing middle loans.
When NSFAS loan applications closed on 15 February, the financial aid scheme received 30,728 NSFAS loan applications.
NSFAS confirmed that funding was available for 31,000 missing middle students. These loans are offered for both undergraduate and postgraduate students. 70% of these loans will be for STEM qualifications and the remaining 30% will be targeted towards social sciences qualifications.
