The National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) officially opened its 2024 application window in November which leaves a much shorter period than normal to submit your applications.
What Is The Closing Date For NSFAS Applications For 2024?
The application period for NSFAS opened much later than usual in November 2023 and Minister Blade Nzimande explained that this was to allow for the SARS tax reporting period to close. NSFAS applications for the 2024 academic year initially closed on the 31 January 2024.
Then, NSFAS announced that applications will be extended until 15 February 2024.
The Minister of Higher Education, Training and Innovation, Blade Nzimande, has stated that NSFAS opened later than normal to allow them to access information from SARS about tax returns. This means NSFAS will know how much your combined household income is based on tax returns submitted to the tax authority.
This is an important reason why applicants shouldn't lie on their applications. In previous years many NSFAS students had their funding removed in the middle of the year when it was discovered that they had lied on their funding applications.
Other changes were also discussed by the Minister during a recent briefing just before the application period officially opened; these changes are said to improve the application process as well as the implementation of the bursary scheme. Applicants will have to submit fewer documents than in previous years because of these changes.
The Minister reminded young people that they don't have to wait to get their matric results before submitting their NSFAS applications.
One of NSFAS' most notable changes arrived in 2018, when the financial aid provider began supplying fully subsidized funding; previously, it was simply a student loan scheme. Now it is a full bursary and does not have to be paid back.
Of these upcoming changes, includes the fact that universities and Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) colleges usually open in late January/early February, but the financial year only begins in April.
Work is being done with the National Treasury to align the Post School Education and Training (PSET) calendar with the government funding calendar, to make sure NSFAS has reserved funds ahead of when institutions reopen.
NSFAS will then be able to have money ready before the academic year begins, in order to fund qualifying students if these changes are implemented.
NSFAS has also developed additional channels of application, through a mobile app, USSD and WhatsApp.
Through these channels, applicants can also track and cancel their applications.
The Minister believes that the bursary scheme will have an impact for many decades into the future, including breaking general poverty in families around the country.
However there are concerns this year that because the government is trying to cut back on spending in all departments there won't be enough money to fund all deserving NSFAS applicants.
