The National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) is a programme designed to provide financial assistance for students from poor and working-class families who would otherwise be vulnerable, and so unable to continue their education.
The NSFAS is a public establishment that reports directly to the Department of Higher Education and Training. NSFAS provides financial assistance in the form of study bursary students who have been evaluated and found to meet the requirements. These students are those who wish to study or are already studying at South African public universities and TVET colleges.
What Does The NSFAS Bursary Cover?
When applicants meet the requirements and get their applications approved, they receive funding that covers the following needs: Registration and Tuition. They also receive allowances for the following: Food, Accommodation or transport (depending on the circumstances), Books and other learning materials, and then Personal care.
Who Qualifies For NSFAS Bursary?
Students who qualify for the NSFAS bursary must be South African citizens, and they must plan to study in 2022 or they must already be currently studying at a public university or TVET college. Having met those requirements, they must also meet the following requirements:
The NSFAS requires that your combined household income must not be more than R350 000 per year. Otherwise, the fund requires you to be a SASSA grant recipient.
A Person with a disability may qualify if his combined household income is not more than R600 000 per year.
Students who begun their university studies in previous years may still qualify if their household income is not more than R122 000 per year.
How Does the NSFAS confirm that a Person is Qualified?
In order to verify a person’s identity, and confirm that he or she is really in need of financial assistance in order to complete his education, the NSFAS needs more information from all applicants. This information comes in the form of documents. In order for your application to be approved, you need to provide the following:
You need to provide your own cell phone number and email address. You also need to provide a Copy of your ID or birth certificate. To further verify your identity the NSFAS needs you to upload ID copies of parents, guardian or spouse. In order to confirm your financial status you need to upload your parents/guardians/ or spouse’ proof of income or 1 year’s IRP5 (if applicable). If you are a SASSA grant recipient, no proof of income will be required from you.
Applicants with a disability must submit a completed document called Disability Annexure A Form. This form must be downloaded from the NSFAS site, filled in capital letters, and then uploaded back to the site.
An applicant who is recognised as a Vulnerable Child must download the Vulnerable child Declaration form. This form must be filled out and signed by a Social Worker from the Department of Social Development. The applicant should also have his consent form filled out by a Social Worker.
How and Where To Apply
All applications to the NSFAS must be done online. You can apply online using a smartphone, tablet, or computer. Follow these simple steps to register and apply to the NSFAS:
From your device go to www.nsfas.org.za and click on the ‘myNSFAS’ tab. Since you want to register, just click on the ‘Create a myNSFAS account’ tab. After that just Click on the ‘APPLY’ tab and answer the questions on the screen. Provide your correct details, please. After that upload, the required documents, supporting your claim, then click on ‘submit.’
Once you click on the ‘submit’ tab, your application reference number will appear on your screen. The same reference number will also be automatically sent to the cell phone number and email address you provided.
Contact the NSFAS for assistance Via:
NSFAS Connect: this is a communication interface from the website. To access this just go to www.nsfas.org.za and log into your myNSFAS account using your username and password. After that, you click on connect, and a customer care attendant will attend to you.
Facebook: this is the official Facebook page of the NSFAS. You have to log in to your Facebook account to access this feature. Go to Facebook, login, and type National Student Financial Aid Scheme
Twitter page: the official Twitter handle of the NSFAS is @myNSFAS
Instagram: the official Instagram handle of the NSFAS is @myNSFAS
Email: you may contact the NSFAS via email: [email protected]
You may also contact the financial aid office of your school, and ask them to help you with your NSFAS application. We have published an extensive list of contact details via which you can contact the NSFAS.
Related:
Conclusion:
The NSFAS is designed to provide financial assistance for poor students. Therefore, this scheme will not pay for tuition at a private institution, or at a high tuition university. Furthermore, the NSFAS will not fund students whose household income exceeds R300,000 per year, or R600,000 for disabled applicants. The scheme is only open to South African citizens, and you will be required to show proof that you are in need of the money.