The National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) funds thousands of university and TVET college students annually. The main criteria for receiving NSFAS funding is meeting the financial eligibility criteria by falling below the income threshold for NSFAS bursaries.
Funding provided by NSFAS covers tuition and registration fees. Students also receive several allowances for food, accommodation, transport and learning materials.
The comprehensiveness of NSFAS funding attracts thousands of applications from students annually. NSFAS uses an income threshold to ultimately determine who is funded.
How Household Income Threshold Works For NSFAS Eligibility Criteria
NSFAS defines household income as “the combined annual gross income of the applicant or the applicants’ parents, adoptive parents, spouses or legal guardians”.
This includes income from both the formal and informal sector which includes but is not limited to, salaries, wages, retirement income, near cash government transfers like food stamps, grants, business incomes and investment gains.
Most students who apply for NSFAS funding are subjected to a household income check.
Only beneficiaries of the South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) grants are exempt from household income checks. This applies to beneficiaries of the Foster Care grant, Care Dependency grant and Child Support Grants.
Any student who is a South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) recipient, as validated by NSFAS, automatically meets the financial eligibility criteria and will be eligible for a bursary award if they are registered at an institution and are academically eligible.
Household Income Thresholds
The household income threshold for NSFAS bursaries is R350,000 per annum. If an applicant's household income exceeds R350,000, they will be ineligible for NSFAS bursaries and be assessed for NSFAS loan eligibility.
Students living with disabilities are assessed as financially eligible if their combined annual household income is R600,000 or less.
NSFAS uses third-party data sources, over and above the declared household income, to determine if an applicant meets the financial eligibility criteria.
Students are required to submit a signed NSFAS consent form which allows NSFAS to undertake the financial eligibility checks with third-party data sources.
