Applying for financial aid from the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) can be a crucial step toward accessing higher education in South Africa. NSFAS applications opened on 20 September 2024 and is set to close on 15 December 2024.
Here’s a breakdown of the different NSFAS application statuses and what they mean for you.
What Your NSFAS 2025 Application Status Means
Application Submitted
This is probably going to be the first NSFAS status you see after completing your NSFAS application.
Application in progress
This means that NSFAS has received your application and is reviewing the following: Student type outcome (FTEN/Senior/Continuing), SASSA indicator, Disability indicator, Application type outcome (Active/Automated/Hybrid) and DHA relationships (Mother/Father/Spouse/Guardian).
Verification
During this step, NSFAS is evaluating the information you provided to them in your NSFAS application. At this stage, they are looking at your NSFAS eligibility.
Verification is a process where NSFAS checks and confirms the accuracy of the information you've provided in your application. This includes submissions of:
- Unverified parents/spouse/guardian details.
- NSFAS Consent Form.
- NSFAS Disability Annexure.
- NSFAS Orphan/Vulnerable Child Form.
Students with a 'Verification' status could also see the following case statuses:
- Awaiting verification- i.e. checking completeness of application.
- Awaiting documents.
- Verification completed.
Case closed
This NSFAS status means that the applicant did not submit supporting documents within 30 days.
Requesting Financial and Academic Data
A 'Requesting Financial and Academic Data' NSFAS status means that NSFAS is confirming the information provided and will then move on to assess the financial eligibility and academic eligibility of the applicant.
Assessing Financial Eligibility
This NSFAS status means that the financial aid scheme is assessing the applicant for the income
threshold using SARS data, exceptions data, credit bureau data and the declared household income data.
Awaiting Academic Results
If you see this NSFAS status, it means that the application is currently being evaluated for academic eligibility criteria but has outstanding academic results.
Assessing Academic Eligibility
The application is being evaluated for one/both the following: Academic eligibility criteria and the TVET and University N + Rule.
Duplicate
An application that has been submitted for the same cycle as another submitted application. This could include:
- Cycle 1: Annual, Trimester 1, Semester 2
- Cycle 2 – Trimester 2, Semester 2
- Cycle 3– Trimester 3
Funded subject to registration and availability of funds
This means that the student will be funded once they register at an institution and if there are funds available to fund the student. This ultimately means that the NSFAS application has passed all application evaluation stages and met the funding criteria.
Registration Received
An application that has passed all application evaluation stages and met the funding criteria and has received a registration from a registered institution.
Cancelled application
An application where a student has cancelled their submitted application.
Rejected
An application that did not meet the NSFAS funding criteria and conditions. Students who see this NSFAS status should submit a NSFAS appeal if they believe that they've been rejected unfairly.
Applicants are urged to log into their NSFAS account often to track any changes in their NSFAS application status.
How To Check Your NSFAS Status
Here's how you can check the status of your NSFAS funding application, if you've already submitted one:
- Login to your NSFAS account on the myNSFAS student portal here
- Enter your username and password and sign in
- Click on ‘Track Funding Progress’
- You will then see your NSFAS application status
NSFAS is a government bursary that will assist in paying for your tertiary education if you want to study for a qualification at one of South Africa's public universities and Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) Colleges. This NSFAS funding covers more than just tuition fees with NSFAS also covering registration and allowances for student needs.
