In South Africa, student debt continues to be an issue that weighs on students all over the nation.
Despite governmental aid such as Nsfas, and some private bursaries and scholarships being made available to those students that can meet the eligibility requirements, a large portion of our youth population still have not found ways to resolve their student debt.
This is an issue that was brought to international attention during the #FeesMustFall movement that started in 2015. As a result of the movement bringing widespread recognition to the magnitude of the student debt problem in the country, the Feenix initiative was started in 2017 as a part of the student debt solution.
Feenix is a crowdfunding service that allows students to start a funding campaign in their name on their website. The students’ profiles will be shared with fundraising members of the Feenix community, who can then choose to donate to their campaign.
However, there are conditions that need to be met in order to be eligible for funding. For starters, when it comes to the types of courses are funded, there are no stipulations that a student cannot fund their online course using Feenix.
However, the courses that a student wishes to pay for, need to have been studied at any one of the institutions supported by Feenix.
These institutions include the following:
- University of Venda
- Vaal University University of Technology
- University of Witwatersrand
- Walter Sisulu University
- Cape Peninsula University of Technology
- Central University of Technology, Free State
- Durban University of Technology
- Mangosuthu University of Technology
- Northwest University of Technology
- Nelson Mandela University
- Rhodes University
- Sol Plaatje University
- Stellenbosch University
- Tshwane University of Technology
- University of Fort Hare
- University of Free State
- University of Johannesburg
- University of Mpumalanga
- Unisa
- University of Limpopo
- University of Pretoria
- University of Zululand
Thus, if a student is enrolled at one of the above institutions, they will be able to have their courses funded upon representation of an official fee statement from the university. The aim is to cover whatever costs are owed on that statement, regardless of the method in which it was studied.
Nonetheless, it is still important to note that students looking to earn funding through Feenix are not necessarily guaranteed full cover of their fees, as the amount raised is entirely dependent on the reach of the student’s profile.
Luckily, Feenix does also offer a bit of help when it comes to ensuring profile engagement, although they do implore students to do their part by sharing their profile to as many audiences as they can.
Therefore, to summarise, although Feenix does not have any direct stipulations on what types of courses a student might receive funding for, so long as the student is enrolled at a supported institution, and can present their fee statement, they can start raising the funds to pay off their student debt.
For more information, visit Feenix’s official website.
