Thousands of students that are studying at public universities and Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) colleges are funded by the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS).
Students funded by NSFAS receive comprehensive funding, which includes the payment of their tuition and registration fees. They also receive several allowances including a living allowance, stationery allowance and an accommodation allowance.
Despite delays, NSFAS assured stakeholders that the first round of allowances was paid to students studying at TVET colleges. These payments were made on 10 March 2023 to students whose registration data was received by the bursary scheme.
NSFAS explained that two payment runs were made based on the registration data received from the TVET colleges. Students with no user profiles were subsequently paid by 18 March 2023.
The financial aid scheme subsequently committed to making weekly payments. This is because the majority of students did not receive their allowances due to late registration data submitted by institutions. When this information is sent, payments will be made to students.
NSFAS has successfully made payments to TVET Colleges that have submitted registration information for students and will continue to make payments as and when information is received.
To ensure no delays occurred with the distribution of allowances at the beginning of the 2023 academic year, NSFAS made upfront payments to universities and colleges on 31 January 2023. Another upfront payment was made on 6 March 2023.
The financial aid scheme says approximately 800,000 students were paid their allowances during this period.
The data on university payment dates showed that up to 800,000 students have been paid upfront from 31 January to 06 March 2023.
NSFAS explained that these upfront payments were made while institutions were still finalising allowance allocations and claims for the registration data. Allowances were also increased by 10%. Institutions are loading registration data, inclusive of this confirmed increase.
Students will not have to wait until the end of the month for their allowances to be paid. These weekly payments will be made four times a month. Every week NSFAS makes payment tranches.
The 10% increase is for student allowances, however, the accommodation allowance remains at R4,500 per month or R45,000 per annum.
