As a student and after your secondary school due to financial issues wanting to give up on education? Well, give up not as there is a way your tertiary education could be funded by the South African government through the Department of Higher Education and training offers support to students in such need with a bursary called NSFAS.
Well, guess you would be wondering what NSFAS is.
What Is NSFAS?
NSFAS simply means National Student Financial Aid Scheme. It is a scheme that subsidizes the finance cost and supports undergraduate students during their tertiary education. In simple language, it helps finance an undergraduate education in a tertiary school.
How Does It Work?
What the management of the scheme does is loan cash to students to help finance their tertiary education. The said loan helps cover tuition fees, books, cost of living, and everything which would help a student stay in the University a success.
With this loan, a beneficiary would pay back the said amount after the person is done with school and has been fully employed and earning more than R30,000 per year.
Who Is Qualifies For NSFAS
Now to the big question: who qualifies for the scheme? Well NSFAS have a few requirements an applicant must fall within before they can apply to the scheme.
One can apply with NSFAS if;
1. Must be a South African
2. Must be in serious need of financial support. This is determined by officials through an NSFAS means test.
3. Must be academically good
4. Must have passed Grade 12
5. Students from no-fees schools
6. Orphans
7. Children with unemployed parents
What documents are needed for NSFAS?
To commence the application process, a student needs the right appropriate documents so as to help them apply with ease for NSFAS bursary. If you are to use the online application, all documents needed would be uploaded to the system and for the manual application, such documents would be presented during submission.
Below are the few documents an applicant would need;
1. Your ID or birth certificate
2. Parent’s proof of income
3. SASSA beneficiaries do not need to provide proof of income
4. Vulnerable children need to fill out the Vulnerable Child Declaration Form
How Do I Apply For NSFAS online 2023?
NSFAS bursary applications are of two types, we have the online application system and the manual application system. These two are accepted. For the online system, an applicant would be tasked to create an MYNSFAS account on the official website. This MyNSFAS account would serve as an applicant’s personal profile.
STEP-BY-STEP GUIDE TO APPLYING NSFAS ONLINE
1. Visit http://www.nsfas.org.za/
2. Click on the MyNSFAS tab
3. Create MyNSFAS account
4. Click on ‘’APPLY’’ and provide the necessary answers to questions
5. Upload the necessary documents
6. Click on submit
NSFAS MANUAL APPLICATION
With the manual application, all the applicant needs to do is download the application forms from NSFAS website.
1. Download application forms from http://www.nsfas.org.za/
2. Fill in the necessary details required
3. Attached are the necessary documents required
5. Complete filled application form can be sent via post to NSFAS Loans & Bursaries Department, Private Bag X4, Plumstead, 7801 or scanned and emailed to apply@nsfas.org.za.
NB: Applicants who are already on the scheme do not need to reapply
READ ALSO: How To Check Your NSFAS Application Status
Is NSFAS open for 2023 applications?
The NSFAS online application would be opened on 1st September 2022 for the 2023/2024 academic year
NSFAS Application 2022 Closing Date
Applications for National Student Financial Aid Scheme are normally opened before the year ends and closes at the beginning of the following year. With TVET colleges, applications will be opening and closing on these dates: Trimester 1: 9 March 2022 – 22 March 2022. Semester 2: 4 July 2022 – 22 July 2022. Trimester 2: 10 August 2022 – 19 August 2022.
How much does NSFAS pay monthly?
I guess by now one would be wondering how much cash an applicant would get after duly going through the required process. Well according to NSFAS, E-Wallet would be created for each student beneficiary and must be activated.
With E-wallet, it is where monthly funds for beneficiaries can be accessed. We have a breakdown of how much each month a student beneficiary would receive from the NSFAS online application 2022.
MONTHLY FUNDS
Learning Materials (Books) – R433
Living Allowances – R1250
Incidental Allowances – R241
Travel Allowances – R625
Accommodation – Amount based on school’s demand
Allowances are normally paid at the beginning of each month so as to help cater to the monthly expenses of the student.
Good Luck with your application