The National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) has confirmed that universities will continue to disburse student allowances until the end of 2024. This means Unisa students can expect to receive their NSFAS allowances as usual throughout the year.
Initially, the government planned to transition allowance payments back to NSFAS in July, but this decision has been revised.
Changes to NSFAS Payments
The way NSFAS allowances are paid has changed. The previous NSFAS Direct payment system, which used a black card, has been discontinued. Universities will now handle allowance payments directly.
What Unisa Students Receive from NSFAS
NSFAS provides allowances to eligible Unisa students in two main forms:
- Learning Materials Allowance: This covers the cost of textbooks and study materials. The amount depends on the number of modules you're registered for.
- Up to four modules: R700 per module
- Five or more modules: R5,460 total
- Living Allowance: Available to students registered for ten or more modules. This includes an incidental allowance.
NSFAS Allowances For 2025
The South African Students Congress has said that NSFAS may pay allowances directly to students in 2025.
We have however held fruitful engagements with NSFAS, whereby they have brought us into confidence about their plans to disburse allowances more efficiently and effectively.
The union said they would welcome this allowance payment method.
We however are delighted to report that NSFAS has in our meeting today committed that by the beginning of the 2025 academic year, all students should be receiving their allowance directly from NSFAS.
NSFAS also covers tuition and registration fees for eligible students.
