Government says R1.3bn had been paid to 26 public universities as advance payment of registration fees for students from disadvantaged backgrounds so that they can be admitted for their studies.
“This payment equates to at least 15% of total and final budget that each university may get for enrolling students, who are eligible for government funding when a final reconciliation of the numbers of enrolled students is confirmed at the end of the registration period,” the state entity, the National Student Financial Aid Scheme said in a statement Monday.
NSFAS spokesperson, Kagisho Mamabolo, said they expect universities to work with them to ensure that registration of funded students goes as smooth as possible because government has confirmed funding.
“All returning students, who were funded in 2016, should not panic as they will automatically be funded in 2017 without having to apply for financial aid, provided they have signed the agreement form for financial assistance and they have passed at least 50% of their enrolled modules”.
Over 160 000 students have been approved for funding, and NSFAS is confident that there will not be any student turned away, who has secured space, because of lack of funding.
“We expect that our students will be treated fairly and not be discriminated against based on their backgrounds,” he said.
While there are still some students who have not received SMS confirmation from NSFAS, Mamabolo has reassured the public that “the Scheme will continue to approve more students every day and is expected to finalise all applications by close of business on 27 January 2017”.
Applications for funding for university students are now officially closed, and there will be no extension, while TVET college students still have until midnight 14 February 2017 to submit their applications.
NSFAS management is expected to address the nation on the 2017 financial aid statistics awarded to students at universities and TVET colleges, by next week.
