As many students enrolled in public tertiary institutions may be aware, student funding by NSFAS is vital in ensuring that there are minimal to no barriers to entry to tertiary education for financially disadvantaged students.
However, it can also happen that, in an effort to further financially support themselves, students funded by National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) find part-time employment to juggle with their studies. This then begs the question of how their part-time employment opportunity will affect their NSFAS funding eligibility status.
Fortunately, according to NSFAS, this will not compromise their funding eligibility provided that they meet the academic criteria, and as long as their earnings are not more than their annual household income as stipulated by their eligibility requirement.
As long as you meet the academic criteria, and as long as your salary does not exceed the annual household threshold, this does not affect your NSFAS funding.
In addition to this, the most recent announcement to be given by NSFAS is that applications for the second trimester among students enrolled in TVET colleges will open on Wednesday 10 August 2022 and close on 19 August 2022.
Students are advised to apply online or through TVET college bursary offices where they can submit their NSFAS applications using the methods below:
- Walk-in online application platform (superuser)
- Students capture their application at their college computer lab
- Assistive capture application platform
A TVET representative will then receive the application on the student's behalf. The following supporting documentation must be submitted by students when submitting an application.:
- Copy of South African birth certificate/copy of ID document/Temporary ID of the student
- Copy of South African birth certificate/copy of ID document/Temporary ID of parent(s)/guardian/spouse
- Proof of income (where applicable) – student/parent(s)/guardian or spouse (not older than 3 months.
- SASSA recipients have no proof of income that is required.
A student recognised as a vulnerable child (e.g. Orphan) must submit a completed Vulnerable Child Declaration Form completed by the social worker. Students with disabilities must complete and submit the Disability Annexure A form.
A social worker's completed vulnerable child Declaration Form must be submitted by a student who has been identified as a financially vulnerable child (such as an orphan). The Disability Annexure A form must be filled out and submitted by students with disabilities.
Once the application has been completed and submitted, NSFAS will process it and provide students with their application outcomes.
Students are also advised to regularly visit the NSFAS website to track their applications. Those who have applied for NSFAS during the walk-in application period will not be required to fill out the NSFAS system access form. They will only need to send an email to [email protected] for their account to be re-activated.
