Youth Village

Bursary Listing

National Skills Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS)

NSFAS is the South African government student loan and bursary scheme. We provide loans and bursaries to students at all 25 public universities and 50 public TVET colleges throughout the country.

NSFAS funding has grown from R441 million in 1999 to R8,5 billion in 2013.

What is a student loan?

A student loan is the money you borrow from NSFAS to cover the costs of your studies at any of the 25 public universities in South Africa. The costs include tuition fees, residence or private accommodation costs, food, books and travel. This loan must be repaid to NSFAS when you have finished studying. Depending on your results, up to 40% of your NSFAS study loan may be converted into a bursary and you do not need to repay that amount.

What is a NSFAS bursary?

A NSFAS bursary is the money you receive to cover the costs of your studies for certain qualifications at any public university or college in South Africa.

This money does not have to be repaid to NSFAS.

We administer various bursary funds, including:

• The Funza Lushaka Bursary Programme to train teachers

• Bursaries for studying Social Work through the Department of Social Development

• Bursaries from the National Skills Fund for scarce skills

• Bursaries for the National Certificate (Vocational) and for certain Report 191 courses at TVET colleges

• The bursary programme of the Department of Higher Education and Training for students with disabilities.

Applying

NSFAS gives loans to students without the need for guarantees or sureties from parents or guardians. You will be required to submit certain supporting documentation when applying for a student loan.

Interest

Interest is only charged 12 months after you have completed your studies by either graduating or dropping out.

Interest is charged at 80% of the repo rate, which is the repurchase rate at which the Reserve Bank lends to commercial banks. NSFAS will continue to charge interest on all outstanding balances. It is therefore very important to start repaying your loan as soon as possible.

Repayment terms

NSFAS has made repayments affordable for you. Repayments of your student loan are based on the salary that you earn, and start once your salary is R30 000 or more per year.

Payments start at 3% of your annual salary, increasing to a maximum of 8% when your salary reaches R59 300 or more per year. For example, this means you will pay back R900 a year on a salary of R30 000 a year, or R84 per month.

Repayment options – When employed

Before NSFAS can proceed with repayments your consent will be required. There are 3 ways of repaying your loan and these have been listed below:

• Debit order – debit order form is available online

• Salary deductions – if your employer has an agreement with NSFAS, your employer can deduct your repayment off your payslip and pay it directly to NSFAS

• EFT’s – you can make electronic transfers directly to NSFAS

Where your salary is not provided to NSFAS subsequent to the completion of your studies, you will have 60 months to repay your loan.

How to obtain addition loan information

On the website or by calling the Contact Centre on 0860 067327

Extract above from nsfas.org.za