The Ikusasa Student Financial Aid Programme (Isfap) provides bursaries to students studying at some of South Africa’s public universities. These bursaries ensure that students who do not qualify for financial assistance from the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (Nsfas) can still attend university.
Application for the Isfap bursary closes on 31 October 2022. This gives applicants just two months to apply for Isfap funding.
Requirements For Isfap Bursary?
- Have a household income between R350,000 and R600,000
- Meet the academic criteria and registration criteria based on the institution they want to attend. This can include a National Benchmarking Test (NBT) for some institutions (academic and behavioural strength)
- Matric results
- Funder constraints (that meet individual funder objectives) will be applied to students applying
Nsfas assists thousands of students from poor and working-class backgrounds to pay for their tertiary education. However, the scheme does not assist students who have a household income above R350,000.
Students who have a household income above R350,000 but can’t afford to pay for tertiary education are called the “missing middle”.
In 2016, Minister of Higher Education and Training, Dr Blade Nzimande set up a Ministerial Task Team (MTT) to investigate possible solutions for the funding of missing middle students. The Isfap bursary came as a result of this investigation.
Students At These Universities Can Apply For The ISFAP Bursary
- Central University of Technology
- Nelson Mandela University
- University of Venda
- Stellenbosch University
- University of the Witwatersrand
- University of Pretoria
- Walter Sisulu University
- University of Cape Town
- Tshwane University of Technology
- University of KwaZulu-Natal
- University of Johannesburg
These universities were chosen as they have a high proportion of missing middle students and are a mixture of urban and rural institutions.
Hopeful applicants are urged to note that the ISFAP bursary only covers selected courses.
