In the past few years, the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET) has been working towards increasing the number of students who are enrolled in public colleges in South Africa.
The department also has various funding opportunities for students who intend on applying at Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) Colleges.
One of the funding opportunities that both prospective and existing TVET College students may benefit from include the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS)
Recently, NSFAS has announced that it has opened online funding applications for Trimester 2 in all 50 public TVET Colleges.
As per NSFAS communique to the relevant institutions, these are the application timelines for students:
- Trimester 2 applications are to open from the 5th of May 2023 and close on the 22nd of May 2023.
- Semester 2 applications are to open from the 17th of July 2023 and close on the 31st of July 2023.
- Trimester 3 applications are to open from the 4th of September 2023 and close on the 20th of Septemeber 2023
The Scheme has also advised institutions that are participating in the Centres of Specialisation programmes to encourage participating students to apply for NSFAS funding for this application cycle.
The TVET academic calendar released by DHET roughly corresponds with the start and end dates for walk-in applications for 2023 TVET Colleges.
NSFAS has strictly stated that it is mandatory for students to submit their funding applications online for the application cycles that are remaining for the 2023 academic year.
What Are The NSFAS Allowances For 2023 TVET College Students?
The Higher Education Minister Dr. Blade Nzimande announced that student allowances for TVET College and university students have been increased for 2023.
TVET College students will receive R6,000 as per their living allowances, while NSFAS has capped its student accommodation allowance at R45,000.
Bursary recipients who do not reside in student housing will qualify for a traveling allowance which will cover a month’s total cost of up to R7,718.
