At the beginning of the year, the Department of Higher Education and Training announced that Nsfas would receive an additional budget and a total of R47.3 billion was allocated to cover both TVET colleges and public universities.
To qualify for Nsfas funding, students must meet the following requirements:
- Be a South African citizen
- All Sassa grant recipients qualify for funding
- Combined household income is not more than R350 000 per annum
- Person with disability: Combined household income must not be more than R600 000 per annum
Many have raised questions on how many students who applied for Nsfas funding had their applications rejected in 2022.
According to the department, a total of 143,117 applications were rejected in the 2022 academic year.
Some of reasons for the rejected applications include:
- Applicant deceased as per department of home affairs records
- Financially Ineligible (household income exceeds threshold)
- Highest level of qualification at which Nsfas may fund has already been achieved
- Insufficient information provided as a result Nsfas cannot make a funding decision
- Invalid National ID and/or names and surnames provided
- N+ Rule Exceeded
- Not compliant with the N+ Rule (funding pathway)
- Not compliant with the Academic Eligibility Criteria
- Not Eligible for Nsfas funding, funded by another funder
The department also noted that those who were rejected the most times, (65,233 applications) were those who provided insufficient information, which meant that the bursary scheme could not make a funding decision.
The scheme has appealed to all prospective students to submit all the necessary documentation and information required so that they do not miss out on funding.
During a parliamentary Q&A, Vuyani Pambo (Member at Portfolio Committee) asked the Minister of Higher Education, Blade Nzimande whether his department followed up on the rejected students to see how many dropped out because they had no other means of paying for their fees.
In response, Nzimande said that his department does not follow-up on students who have not succeeded but is considering doing tracer-studies to establish where graduates and those who have dropped-out are doing.
The department is currently producing the First-Time Entering Undergraduate Cohort Studies for Public Higher Education Institutions Report which provides a national overview of the dropout and throughput rates within the university sector annually.
