All prospective students who are approved for National Student Financial Aid Scheme (Nsfas) funding will be allowed to register for the 2023 academic year without having to pay any registration fees as Nsfas will be making upfront payments to universities and TVET colleges.
This was announced on Tuesday by the Minister of Higher Education And Training, Blade Nzimande during a media briefing regarding his departments readiness for the new academic year.
"This arrangement also applies to all students who qualify under historic debt funds and close-out reports, hoping it is the last time we make these arrangements," said the Minister.
He says the bursary scheme is currently working to finalise the upfront payment schedule. However, payments will be made to intuitions before the end of January 2023.
The Minister explained:
To cater for the first few months of their academic journey while applicants wait for their application results, NSFAS will make upfront payments to institutions to cover for cost related to registration, tuition fees and living allowances.
Nzimande also noted that the current Nsfas application window was the longest it has ever been — from 28 September 2022 to the closing date of 31 January 2023.
Students who have not yet submitted their applications were encouraged to apply and avoid missing the deadline.
The Minister revealed that students who applied for funding for the first time and returning students will receive funding decisions from Nsfas on 6 February 2023 while the funded list for continuing students was released on Tuesday, 24 January 2023.
As of Friday, 20 January 2023, a total of 1 131 419 applications have been received through the scheme’s online application portal and 156 700 of these applications are from SASSA beneficiaries.
Nzimande warned that those defrauding the scheme will be brought to book as the department intends to intensity investigations into identifying individuals involved in any fraudulent activities and criminal action will be taken.
