UCT owed R113m in 2016 students’ fees
• ‘Small surpluses’ could be wiped out in three years amid unpaid fees
The University of Cape Town (UCT) has warned that it could face a financial deficit in the next two to three years if financial pressure continues. The university is owed R113m in fees for 2016. The institution is able to enrol about 29,000 students in 2017.
The University of Cape Town (UCT) has warned it could face a financial deficit in the next two to three years if monetary pressure continues.
The university is owed R113m in fees for 2016.
The institution will be able to enrol about 29,000 students in 2017 including 4,200 first-year students and 9,500 postgraduate students.
“We have generated small surpluses,” said UCT acting vicechancellor Prof Francis Petersen. “This could, however, change in the next two to three years, all else being equal, but we remain hopeful that the Fees Commission will make recommendations that will ensure the sustainability of all higher education institutions.”
Set up to investigate the feasibility of free tertiary education after #FeesMustFall protests, the commission submitted a preliminary report to President Jacob Zuma in November 2016.
Zuma set up the commission to determine a funding model for free education and how it can be maintained.
The commission’s deadline was extended to June 30 2017.
In 2016, 2,820 students were on financial aid and 6,925 undergraduate students were financially supported by the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS), UCT or companies, which means almost 40% of the university’s undergraduate students are receiving financial assistance.
UCT’s recurrent operations had generated a deficit of R97m, following earlier deficits of R60m and R57m in 2014 and 2013, respectively, she said.
It cost the university an average of R420m per month to run operations, including items outside its council budget such as research, housing and specifically funded or designated operations, Petersen said.
South African students who were not funded by NSFAS and have outstanding fees of less than R1,000 would be automatically allowed to register for 2017, said Petersen, inclusive of gap-funding students whose family income is less than R600,000 per year and who are academically eligible to graduate or to progress to the next academic year of study.
The UCT student representative council president, Rorisang Moseli, could not be reached for comment on what measures the SRC would take to assist those with debt and who are ineligible for NSFAS or gap funding.
The in-sourcing of employees, previously employed on contract, has also affected the financial health of the university. The university has completed the in-sourcing process, with about 1,200 more employees appointed in 2016.
The university had budgeted for one-off capital expenditure of R40m related to the in-sourcing and an annual recurrent operational cost of about R68m.
Petersen said that the estimate of R68m was in addition to what the university had spent previously on these services, with the biggest driver of costs related to increased salaries.
The university hoped to save R120m recurrently by 2018.