Flooded NSFAS extends time for students to apply

THE National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) received 233 470 applications for funding to attend 26 public universities or 50 technical and vocational education and training (TVET) colleges.

The scheme has been so inundated with requests that it has extended the period for applications‚ CEO Msulwa Daca said yesterday.

Students will be ranked and evaluated to determine who should be prioritised for financial aid and decisions made once it has been established if they passed their matric exams and had been accepted by institutions of higher learning.

The application process opened on August 1 and closed on November 30. But because of the volume of applications‚ the NSFAS executive management decided to open a second and last application window for financial aid.

Applications for students who wish to study at TVET colleges will open from January 9 to February 14 next year; and applications for students who wish to study at universities will open from January 9 to 20.

Matriculants currently receiving a social grant and accepted in institutions of higher learning will no longer go through a means test to qualify for financial NSFAS‚ Daca said.

The second phase of the application period will not affect the first phase of the applications that were already received by November 30.

“For students who already applied by the recent deadline of November 30 2016‚ the NSFAS is still evaluating and processing all applications and will communicate the outcomes to students as of January 5 2017,” Daca said.

“For those who will submit applications from January 9 2017‚ the outcome of applications will be communicated from February 1.”

Following widespread and prolonged protests‚ government decided to support children of all poor‚ working- and middle-class families with subsidy funding to cover the gap between last year’s fee and the adjusted fee for next year at their institution. This will be for fee increments up to 8%.

This will mean all NSFAS-qualifying students and the so-called “missing middle” at universities and TVET colleges – whose families earn above the NSFAS threshold but are unable to support their children’s access to higher education – will experience no fee increase next year because government will pay for it. — TMG Digital/ BusinessLIVE aid from the