MyNSFAS Student Portal

The National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) is a student financial aid scheme for South Africa. NSFAS offers financial assistance to poor undergraduate students to assist them to compensate for the cost of their education after completing high school.

The Department of Higher Education and Training has supported the NSFAS. The scheme handles bursaries like the Funza Lushaka Teacher Bursary (for students engaging in teaching qualification), DHET Disability Bursary and other bursaries from the SETAs (Sector Education and Training Authorities).

The National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) was incorporated in 1996. It substituted the Tertiary Education Fund of South Africa (TEFSA) in 1999. The TEFSA scheme was a non-profit corporation that supervised and controlled NSFAS since its foundation until 2000.

In 1999, TEFSA was changed into a statutory body called NSFAS. The program is funded by over R30 billion (in 2018) from the Department of Higher Education and Training and local and international offerings.

The bursaries include the tuition fees, lodging, and food and travel allowances for “full time” students and only tuition fees for “part-time” students. In 2019, starting 20 November 2019, NSFAS had collected 365,922 applications for financial help in 2020, compared to the 278,738 applications it had obtained in the year prior.

The Minister of Higher Education- Dr. Blade Nzimande announced in 2019 that about R80 billion has been assigned for NSFAS over the next three years.

Eligibility for NSFAS

South African citizens signing up for the first time at a public South African higher education institution who qualify the means test may obtain a bursary. The means test needs that the applicant’s total household income (gross) does not surpass R350000 per annum.

The bursary also includes a few post-graduate student qualifications (like a postgraduate credential in education).

Gratis Subsidized Higher Education Since 2018

The former President Jacob Zuma declared on 16 December 2017 that “fully subsidized free higher education and training for poor and working-class South African students” would be staged in by the South African government over five years.

NSFAS Bursary Consent Form

NSFAS Bursary applications are normally open between September and November in the year foregoing the first year of higher education. Online applications can be accessed on the NSFAS website. Applications can also be done at the Financial Aid Office (FAO) or Student Service Centre at the higher education institution the student applied at. The National Youth Development Agency (NYDA) offices also take in applications.

Sandra Williams

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