You might be on your 20s or 30s when you decide that you want to pursue your very first degree. You do however have one problem, you can't afford it by yourself.
Good news! No matter what your age is, if you meet the requirements, you can get funded by NSFAS.
NSFAS Requirements
The NSFAS requirements are as follows:
- You're a South African citizen
- If you're a SASSA grant recipient, you qualify for funding
- You have a combined household income of not more than R350 000 per year
- Person with disability: Combined household income must not be more than R600 000 per year
NSFAS has said, "we don't discriminate against any race or any age" and that all an applicant needs to do is meet the requirements stated above.
Related Articles: NSFAS Applications Now Open for 2024
It is however important to note that NSFAS does not find any postgraduate degrees and recommend those looking to be funded for them to apply at the National Research Fund (NRF). They also don't fund Advanced National Diplomas.
NSFAS provides funding to poor and working class future students both at Universities and TVET College. Since 1991 until 2018, NSFAS has funded over 3 million students and you could be one too.
Before 2018, NSFAS was a loan scheme but has now been changed to a bursary following the Fees Must Fall movement. This means that anyone who applied in 2018 and the years following that, will not have to pay anything back to the financial aid scheme.
The only requirement to stay funded is that students need to pass their modules. However, NSFAS does give grace in case something happens and allows students to fail one year and still be funded.
For more information on NSFAS, visit their website at www.nsfas.org.za.
