The National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) has officially opened applications for the 2025 academic year. This presents a golden opportunity for South African students to pursue their higher education dreams without financial constraints.
NSFAS offers comprehensive bursaries and student loans to eligible students enrolled in approved courses at universities and Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) colleges. The funding covers tuition fees, registration costs, and essential allowances for food, accommodation, and learning materials.
In just ten days since the application window opened, NSFAS received an overwhelming 235,780 applications.
To date, NSFAS has received a total of 235 780 applications from prospective recipients in need of financial aid. Within a week of opening of applications, almost 202 044 SASSA beneficiaries applicants are provisionally approved for funding.
Over 200 000 applicants have already been provisionally approved for NSFAS funding in 2025. This is primarily due to the automatic qualification of South Africa Social Security Agency (Sassa) grant beneficiaries, whose household incomes typically fall within NSFAS requirements.
NSFAS Application Status
While a significant number of applications have been processed, 60,021 are still under review. Additionally, 3,660 applications have been withdrawn, and 1,862 were unsuccessful.
Applications Received Per Province
KwaZulu-Natal leads the provinces in terms of 2025 NSFAS applications received, followed by Gauteng and Limpopo.
- KwaZulu-Natal: 109,026
- Gauteng: 31,491
- Limpopo: 21,234
- Eastern Cape: 13,478
- Mpumalanga: 10,704
- Free State: 6,314
- North West: 6,098
- Western Cape: 6,051
- Northern Cape: 849
Applicants who do not receive Sassa grants must submit a NSFAS consent form to authorize the scheme to obtain financial information from third parties like the South African Revenue Service (SARS). Failure to do so may delay the confirmation of funding.
Prospective applicants in Grades 9 to 12 are encouraged to apply early, even before receiving their final results.
NSFAS calls upon prospective applicants who are currently in Grade 9, 10, 11 and 12 not to wait for their final results or for the closing date before they submit their application.
The deadline for NSFAS 2025 applications is 15 December 2024.
