The National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) provides fully subsidised free higher education and training for poor and working class South Africans.
NSFAS offers bursaries to South African students who plan to study at public universities and TVET colleges. They cover funding for registration, tuition and allowances.
They provide funding for students at the University of South Africa (Unisa) which makes use of Open and Distance Learning (ODL) which allows students to pursue their degrees, diplomas and certificates by using online resources and study materials provided by Unisa themself.
NSFAS provides funding for students' registration at Unisa. The following applies if you are registering for the 2021 academic year:
- First-time NSFAS applicants: Please ensure that you are temporarily registered during Unisa's registration period while waiting for NSFAS funding confirmation. If your NSFAS application is declined or delayed by close of the registration period, you will be expected to find alternative funding before your registration will be activated.
- Returning NSFAS students who were funded in 2020 but have not yet completed their qualification: Please ensure that you are temporarily registered during Unisa's registration period while waiting for NSFAS funding confirmation for the 2021 academic year.
- Returning NSFAS students who received funding in 2020, have been declined for funding in 2021 and have appealed the decision: Please pay the minimum registration fee while you wait for the NSFAS appeal decision if you chose to do so.
So if your NSFAS application has been provisionally approved then you do not need to pay the minimum registration fee. Your registration will be automatically activated based on NSFAS funding confirmation received by Unisa.
All students funded by NSFAS who have paid the minimum registration amount to activate their registration will be refunded once NSFAS has confirmed successful processing of registration data to Unisa.
Visit the Unisa registration website for the registration dates.
