More than 100,000 students have lodged appeals with the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) after receiving their funding outcomes for the 2026 academic year.
During a briefing on Thursday, NSFAS said it has so far handled 101,000 appeals from students who were unhappy with their funding decisions.
“To date, we handled a total of 101,000 appeals. Of these, 22,000 have been approved, 18,000 have been rejected, and 44,000 were closed, deleted, and withdrawn,” said NSFAS acting CEO Waseem Carrim.
Another 9,000 appeals are incomplete because students have not yet submitted the required supporting documents.
NSFAS urged those students to upload the outstanding documents as soon as possible so their appeals can be processed.
Students are allowed to appeal if they did not meet academic progression requirements or financial eligibility criteria. Appeals may also be considered in cases involving medical conditions, traumatic events, or evidence that the student is likely to complete their qualification.
NSFAS reminded students that they have 30 days from the date they receive their funding outcomes to submit and finalise their appeals.
The scheme said:
- 692,000 first-time entering students have been approved for funding;
- 550,000 continuing students have met the academic progression requirements;
- 1,500 loan applications have been approved.
NSFAS said it had also started disbursing funds to institutions to ensure students receive their allowances.
“For the university sector, we have now made two major up-front disbursements for students’ allowances,” said Carrim. “This includes a disbursement on February 2 to the value of R3.6bn, and on March 2 we made a second disbursement of R2.8bn.”
Payments have also been made to TVET colleges, including R680m in upfront tuition payments and transfers directly to students.
“These are not just figures, they represent our commitment to removing financial barriers, creating a stable and enabling environment for academic success,” said Carrim.
Accommodation remains a major concern for many students. NSFAS said it had received 224,000 accommodation applications, with 148,000 already confirmed with signed leases.
The first accommodation payment for the year is scheduled for March 13, which will cover both February and March and help landlords with cash flow at the start of the academic year.
However, the scheme warned that incomplete lease submissions could delay payments.
“We encourage both students and accommodation providers to complete that process, because failure to do so may result in delays or complications in the allocation of accommodation,” said Carrim.
Despite the progress, NSFAS acknowledged that the system is under financial strain after a R13bn budget shortfall in 2025.
“The system does remain under severe financial pressure,” said Carrim, adding that the scheme and the department of higher education are working to ensure that “no financially deserving and academically deserving student is left behind for 2026”.
NSFAS said its broader mission remains to expand access to education for poor and working-class students.
“Our mission is quite clear: to ensure that no academically deserving student is financially denied the opportunity to pursue their studies simply because of financial constraints.”
TimesLIVE
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