The National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) has released their Eligibility Criteria and Conditions for Financial Aid for the 2025 academic year. With this, they have responded to a question commonly asked: will NSFAS cover historic debt?
Historic debt refers to student fees a student owes to a University from previous years which also applies to NSFAS students who have student fees they were paying on their own for a part of their duration of study. This debt has become a significant barrier to higher education for many South Africans.
Students with historic debt are usually not allowed to register for the new academic year. Once they graduate and they have historic debt, they will not be given their diplomas until they've settled it.
Will NSFAS Cover Historic Debt?
In the NSFAS Eligibility Criteria and Conditions for Financial Aid, the financial aid scheme has said:
Financial aid received cannot be used to settle historic debt unless it is specified as such by the NSFAS.
This means that unfortunately, NSFAS won't cover any historic debt. They will then only pay for the tuition and registration fees from the time you are funded.
Previously, student protests would take place around the country at various institutions of higher learning due to students experiencing financial blocks and exclusions, due to historic debt owed by students enrolled at these universities.
So what does NSFAS cover?
Students who are funded by the NSFAS bursary will have their tuition fees and registration fees covered as well as receive allowances for accommodation, transport, learning materials and other student costs.
NSFAS loan beneficiaries will receive similar coverage, excluding allowances for transport.
