The National Student Financial Aid Scheme (Nsfas) will make upfront Nsfas payments to institutions of higher learning while students await the outcome of their bursary applications. This will prevent students from having to wait for registration fees to be paid.
Minister of Higher Education And Training, Blade Nzimande, made this announcement earlier this week during a briefing regarding the Post School Education Sector’s readiness for the upcoming year.
Nzimande explained that Nsfas will make advance payments to public tertiary education institutions for costs related to registration, tuition fees and living alliances. This will assist students while they wait for their Nsfas bursary decisions.
The Minister explained:
To cater for the first few months of their academic journey while applicants wait for their application results, NSFAS will make upfront payments to institutions to cover the costs related to registration, tuition fees and living allowances.
Nzimande revealed that Nsfas is currently working to finalise the upfront payment schedule. The Minister indicated that these payments will be made to intuitions before the end of January 2023.
“As I indicated earlier, Nsfas is currently finalising this upfront payment schedule for payment to universities and TVET Colleges and payments will be made by the end of January,” said the minister.
Nzimade says this means that all Nsfas-funded students will be registered by all the institutions without paying an upfront registration fee.
In 2022, Nsfas revealed that R3,5 billion was made available for the payment of allowances of all Nsfas-funded students between February and April 2023.
Students around the country have until the end of January 2023 to apply for Nsfas funding. Successful applicants are provided with comprehensive bursaries. Nsfas bursaries cover tuition and accommodation fees. Students will also receive a transport allowance, meal allowance and a book allowance.
