The National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) is a government bursary scheme which funds South African students who are pursuing qualifications at public universities and Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) colleges.
The NSFAS bursary will cover the costs of tuition, registration, accommodation, transport, meals and other living costs.
Students will continue to be funded by NSFAS as long as they achieve academic success in their degree.
However, NSFAS has the N+ rule which means that students have N+1 years to complete their degree. Students with disabilities follow the N+2 rule.
N” is minimum number of years allocated to complete a qualification (i.e. record time). The “+1” refers to the extra year that a student may need to complete the qualification (making the maximum time).
Unlike the N+ rule for university students, the N+ rule for TVET colleges was first introduced in the 2021 academic year.
NSFAS-funded students pursuing their studies at TVET colleges should note that the N+ rule is no longer applied only at the exit point of the programme as of the 2022 academic term.
The N+ rule for TVET colleges is based on the number of academic terms funded, as students are funded for shorter cycles and there is a higher probability that they may exit the system.
Conditions of the N+Rule
The N+ rule applies to the student's current qualification for the specific academic term they are registered in. Therefore, if a student switches qualifications between academic terms, the value of N will be adjusted accordingly.
If a student changes their qualification and the remaining N no longer allows for completing the new qualification within the required time frame, they will lose eligibility for NSFAS funding.
NSFAS shall provide the Institution with N+ statuses/parameters for continuing students prior to registration.
Returning students must also continue to meet the requirements for NSFAS funding as follows:
- Must be a South African Citizen
- Sassa Grant Recipients qualify immediately
- Combined household income of R350 000 or less per annum
- If you are living with a disability, you need to have a combined household income of R600 000 or less per annum
