The National Student Financial Aid Scheme is a government-funded financial aid scheme which provides funding to students who want to study at tertiary institutions. These students need to come from poor or working-class backgrounds and need to be studying towards an undergrad qualification.
NSFAS provides funding in the form of allowances which will cover the student's registration, tuition, food, learning materials and accommodation.
Amounts allocated for accommodation for TVET colleges and Universities are as follows:
Tvet
- Accommodation in an urban area R24 000 per annum
- Accommodation in an peri-urban area R18 900 per annum
- Accommodation in an rural area R15 750 per annum
University
- As per the actual costs charged by the university (costs for private accommodation must not exceed costs for university residence)
NSFAS does not pay for private accommodation unless it is accredited by NSFAS. To check if your accommodation is NSFAS accredited you will need to visit your tertiary education website.
They will indicate which accommodation is available on campus as well as which nearby residences the tertiary institution is associated with. Nearby residences that are associated with tertiary education institutions are most likely NSFAS accredited.
