The National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) is a government student bursary scheme which receives its funding budget from and reports to the Department of Higher Education and Training. NSFAS covers more than just tuition fees, monthly allowances are also included in the bursary.
NSFAS provides financial assistance in the form of bursaries to eligible students at public universities and Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) Colleges in South Africa, including Unisa.
Students studying whole qualifications, such as a degree, diploma or higher certificate programme, offered by a public university, such as Unisa, qualify for the NSFAS bursary.
If you are at Unisa, your NSFAS application will not be considered if you:
- already had NSFAS funding in 2020.
- have already completed an undergraduate degree/diploma.
- are not a South African citizen.
- need funding for a short learning certificate or programme.
- need funding for a postgraduate qualification, with an exception of the following qualifications:
- BTech - Architecture / Architectural Technology
- BTech - Engineering (all disciplines), Cartography, Forestry
- BTech - Biokinetics, Biomedical Technology, Biotechnology
- BTech - Chiropractic, Homoeopathy, all Nursing
- BTech - Clinical or Dental Technology, Emergency Medical Care
- Postgraduate Certificate in Education
- Postgraduate Diploma in Accounting
- LLB
Students who qualify for the bursary will receive the following allowances at Unisa, namely living allowance and learning material allowance.
Students will receive R600 per module for the first four modules and an R5200 once-off amount for five to ten modules, for learning materials.
Living allowances are only provided to students who have registered for ten modules.
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