The National Student Financial Aid Scheme (Nsfas) provides bursaries to thousands of students attending public tertiary institutions in South Africa.
Nsfas bursaries cover a student’s tuition and accommodation fees. Funded students will also receive a meal allowance, transport allowance and stationery allowance.
Before students can receive this critical tertiary education funding, they need to submit a Nsfas application.
Once students submit their Nsfas bursary application, they can check on the progress of their application on the myNsfas website under the ‘application status’ section.
Once students complete their Nsfas application, their Nsfas application status will be ‘application submitted'.
If a student checks their Nsfas application status and it's stuck, it means the system is having issues and delays.
It's important to note that having an application that is stuck does not mean there are issues with the application itself but rather the problem is from Nsfas.
Nsfas said they are still working on perfecting the back end of their system and that is why some applicants will see their Nsfas status stuck for a while.
Once the issues regarding stuck Nsfas application statuses are resolved, the bursary scheme will then undertake the application evaluation process. This includes verifying all the information provided by the students. Students may be asked to provide additional information or supporting documents during this period.
Nsfas will then determine if students are financially eligible for funding. This includes checking the information the student provided with data from the South African Revenue Service (SARS).
Delays may be experienced by students if Nsfas is waiting for information from the SARS. This will see the applicant stuck in the financial eligibility phase.
Beneficiaries of the South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) will not be subjected to a financial eligibility check. They will be immediately approved for funding.
Once all the eligibility checks are completed and Nsfas have found that the student is deserving of a bursary, the student will receive a provincial funding status. Once the student is registered, they will be officially funded.
