Minister of Higher Education and Training, Blade Nzimande has announced the opening of the 2023 National Student Financial Aid Scheme (Nsfas) application period. The application period will open earlier than it has in the past giving students more time to apply for funding.
Nsfas bursaries ensure that students from poor and working-class households can access public universities and Technical and Vocational Education and Training (Tvet) colleges without having financial barriers.
Nzimde revealed that the application system has been enhanced as Nsfas aims to improve and simplify the application process.
The application process itself has been simplified and the questions asked are easier to understand by the public. Additionally, applicants can pause the process and continue at a later stage without restarting from scratch, something that was not possible in previous cycles.
Funding applications can be submitted on the Nsfas portal, myNSFAS. Nsfas has also developed additional channels which students can use to apply for funding including a mobile application, USSD and Whatsapp.
Students will be able to view the progress of their funding applications and cancel their applications on these channels. This was previously only available on the Nsfas website.
The scheme will embark on an outreach campaign to ensure that individuals who do not have access to technological devices are given the necessary resources and support needed to apply for funding.
Nsfas approved 739 526 applications during the 2022 academic year and received R43 billion to fund the students who submitted these applications.
Bursaries from Nsfas cover tuition and accommodation fees for students who are approved for funding and are registered at tertiary education intuition. These students will also receive meal, transport and textbook allowances.
