The National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) has confirmed the monthly allowances payments for students.
NSFAS offers comprehensive bursaries and student loans to deserving learners enrolled in approved courses at universities and TVET colleges. These bursaries cover tuition and registration fees, along with allowances for food, accommodation, and learning materials.
How Much Are NSFAS Allowances?
Students receive an annual living allowance of up to R16,500, which includes R3,045 for personal care and R13,455 for meals. Additionally, they are eligible for a learning material allowance of up to R5,460 per year.
Students living with immediate family or relatives are not eligible for the accommodation allowance. Instead, they qualify for a travel allowance, determined by their institution, up to a maximum of R7,875 for 2024.
Students with disabilities receive higher living allowances and an additional learning material allowance.
Allowance payments are divided into ten equal instalments by NSFAS each year. This means the Living allowance is R1,650 per month, R304,50c for personal care and R1,345 for meals.
The allowance payments received by students are often determined by their living arrangements and whether or not they are required to travel to campus. Factors like the number of modules students are registered for can also impact allowance payment amounts.
How NSFAS Allowances Are Paid
NSFAS has confirmed that universities will handle the disbursement of student allowances for the rest of the 2024 academic year. This means students registered at any of South Africa’s 26 public universities will receive allowance payments directly from their institutions.
The government bursary scheme confirmed that it will continue to pay allowances directly into the bank accounts of students enrolled in approved TVET Colleges.
NSFAS has urged students to ensure their banking details are uploaded and verified on the myNSFAS portal to avoid payment delays.
How TVET Students Can Upload Bank Details
- Visit the myNSFAS portal.
- Log in using your myNSFAS credentials.
- Select "Bank Account Details" under "Profile Information."
- Enter your bank details.
- Click "Save."
NSFAS indicated that a new payment system is expected to be fully developed by September 2024, though it remains uncertain if this timeline will change due to the current arrangements. Details on the allowance distribution for the 2025 academic year will be provided later.
