Universities’efforts for‘missing middle’students not always sufficient

Several universities have been providing financial assistance to the so-called “missing middle” students — those deemed to be “too rich” to qualify for government funding but “too poor” to afford tuition fees.

Earlier this month, the University of Johannesburg announced that in just three months it managed to raise R60million to support 3 500 such academically deserving students.

The University of the Witwatersrand told the Mail & Guardian that, from January 1 to April 20, it allocated R232-million in bursaries and scholarships to students, a portion of which went to “missing middle” students.

Both Stellenbosch University and the University of Cape Town have their own funding programmes in place to assist “missing middle” students.

At Stellenbosch University, students from families with a gross annual income of between R122 000 and R240 000 are eligible for this funding. The university said in a statement that more than 450 students will receive bursary loans this year to assist them with their studies.

UCT has been running its own GAP funding programme catering for “missing middle” students since 2009. The initiative provides financial assistance to those whose family income is above R122 000 but below R550 000 a year. Up to May 23, a total of 911 students were granted funding to the value of about R38-million from the university’s own coffers.

UCT said in a statement that the GAP programme, depending on a student’s family income, provided a percentage of the tuition fee in the form of a bursary and another percentage in the form of a loan to cover other fees. “All students who applied for GAP funding on time and met the academic and financial eligibility criteria have been assisted,” it said.

North West University said it had various initiatives in place at its three campuses to raise funding for deserving students.

Professor Yunus Ballim, vicechancellor of the Sol Plaatje University in Northern Cape, confirmed that about R1.4-million has been raised since January to assist “missing middle” students.

The university has about 710 registered students, including 400 first-years. He said the funds raised were expected to assist 40 students and that 170 students could not be assisted.

“We have agreed that the university will fund the tuition fees for a student who passes all courses in the year. We have also increased the debt limit for re-registration in the following year to around R20 000,” he said. —