The successful processing of application appeals for the 2023 academic year by the National Student Financial Aid Scheme was a topical subject during a recent portfolio committee meeting between stakeholders in the sector.
It is important to note that NSFAS applicants who want to appeal will also need to complete and download a relevant propensity letter.
Here are the propensity letters available for download:
- Failure to meet academic eligibility (PDF)
- Appealing N+1 (PDF)
- N+2 students with disability (PDF)
- Registered for 50% or less (final year course credits) to complete (PDF)
The scheme processed a total of 64 000 appeals, which is reportedly lower than those processed last year. NSFAS credits its newly reworked system for the timely conclusion of the process this year, which had a closing deadline of no later than 20 February 2023.
This year, NSFAS processed applications through the new system and there were systems issues as expected but the system was being continually improved to address the challenges identified thus far.
There has also been a significant rise in applications, which translates to a rising demand for student funding assistance.
”NSFAS received 978 402 first-time applications, which was a 14% growth compared to last year. NSFAS had funded over 657 000 new applicants, representing 66% of those who applied. 81% of these were Sassa beneficiaries.” added NSFAS officials.
To keep up with the slight improvement in processed appeals this year, NSFAS says that they have established an independent tribunal comprised of student organisations, the DHET, Usaf, and SACPO to consider appeals. The tribunal will be presided over by an Adv. Tommy Ntsewa to ensure fairness in the appeals process. The tribunal would start working the following week.
NSFAS also concluded that an ideal situation would be for appeals to be processed before the beginning of the registration period, and that, to accomplish this, the system's coordination must be improved.
Before this, the processing of ongoing student appeals was handled at an institutional level. As a result, the NSFAS can now make funding decisions at a much quicker pace and has also committed to accomplishing this by the beginning of the next academic year.
