The National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) provides funding to students who come from poor and working class backgrounds in the form of bursaries and loans. Students who study at one of the 26 public universities or 50 TVET Colleges can get NSFAS funding.
One university where students can access a NSFAS bursary is Unisa, with NSFAS allowances for student needs being included. Now, the university has had to correct fake messages which are circulating concerning NSFAS allowances.
A fake message has recently been circulated among students which read as follows:
We want to inform you about an important update regarding NSFAS disbursements. The DSF NSFAS manager is on leave and will return on May 7, 2024. Unfortunately, payments cannot be disbursed without their authorization.
The message continued to say that the university aims to "resume disbursements as soon as possible upon their return".
Unisa has however responded to these rumours by saying that these messages do not come from the university saying, "the message circulating on social media about the unavailability of DSF staff is fake and not issued by UNISA".
The university then revealed:
Student Funding has paid allowances to 149,348 students and continue to pay allowances as students update their banking details.
The university is now urging students to activate their Unisa myLife email address where they will receive a link to update their banking details. Any queries can be directed to [email protected].
Students will not be able to update their banking details without receiving the link from Unisa on their myLife email.
Unisa has been paying NSFAS allowances since 19 March 2024.
Unisa NSFAS Allowances For 2024
NSFAS revealed that 25 out of the country’s 26 universities paid allowances to students. This came after the financial aid scheme made an agreement which saw institutions responsible for paying February NSFAS allowances to students.
While Unisa, like all other universities, will facilitate February and March NSFAS allowances, NSFAS confirmed a return to the direct payment method in April 2024. Students will need to register with the direct payment service providers previously assigned to their institutions.
Unisa Remittance Advice
In order to get their NSFAS allowances, Unisa NSFAS students will be receiving their remittance advice confirming the amount to be paid to them.
Remittance advice is a notification from the payer that payment for an invoice has been transmitted and will be received very soon. Once a student receives their remittance advice they will receive their allowances within 48 hours.
