The National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) has confirmed its allowance payment schedule for December 2024. This crucial update will benefit thousands of South African students receiving financial assistance.
NSFAS provides comprehensive bursaries and student loans to deserving students enrolled in approved courses at public universities and Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) colleges in South Africa. These bursaries cover tuition and registration fees, as well as allowances for essential expenses like food, accommodation, and learning materials.
How University NSFAS Allowances Will Work For December 2024
NSFAS allowances are divided into 10 payments every year. This means that in December 2024, students will not receive any allowance.
December is different to every month due to NSFAS not paying allowances during this month. NSFAS only pays allowances for 10 months every year, during the academic year.
The academic year commences in February and ends in November for most institutions which means that NSFAS pays allowances from February until November.
Universities will continue to be responsible for disbursing NSFAS allowances to students until the end of 2024. This decision comes after a previous plan to transition allowance payments to a new system by September 2024.
Following a meeting between Universities South Africa (USAF) and the NSFAS Administrator, Mr F Nomvalo, NSFAS has decided that university students' allowances will continue to be distributed allowances through universities for the remainder of the 2024 academic year.
While the details of this new system remain unclear, the extension of university-based payments provides stability for students in the short term.
This article was updated on 25 November 2024.
