Since the beginning of the 2021 academic year, the University of the Free State (UFS) has made a number of concessions to assist students in registering, especially for those students with outstanding debt.
These concessions include:
1. All students with outstanding debt, but who have approved funding from the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) for 2021, are allowed to register without any first payment.
2. All non-NSFAS students who have outstanding debt of up to R 20 000, may register provisionally by paying R2 050 (non-residence) or R7 290 (residential).
3. All non-NSFAS confirmed final-year students who have outstanding debt of up to R25 000, may
register provisionally.
In addition, the following concessions were granted to 2020 NSFAS bursary students who have not yet
received approval from NSFAS for 2021 or who may not have met NSFAS requirements.
These students may register as follows:
1. If a student has no outstanding debt from 2020, he/she may register provisionally without any payment, on condition that they meet the academic requirements for registration.
2. If a student has outstanding debt for 2020, he/she may use the provisional registration option to register.
3. The university will not be able to pay any allowances or private accommodation costs until confirmation of NSFAS approval has been received and funds have been transferred from NSFAS.
4. If no allocation is made by NSFAS, the student will need to fund his/her own studies or deregister, with no debt accumulation.
The university management is aware that first-time entering first-year students (FTENs) who have applied
for NSFAS funding are also encountering challenges with funding, as they are still awaiting an outcome
from NSFAS.
The following concessions were made for FTENs to whom an offer has been made and the offer wasaccepted by the prospective student:
1. Proof of application to NSFAS must be submitted to the UFS (this will be verified) by providing a copy/image of your status on the MYNSFAS portal to Finaidenquiriesbfn@ufs.ac.za. If NSFAS has already rejected the application, no consideration will be given.
2. If NSFAS has not provided an outcome for the application, the student will be allowed to register provisionally without payment. This will only apply to programmes funded by NSFAS.
3. The UFS will not be able to pay any allowances or private accommodation costs until confirmation of NSFAS approval has been received and funds have been transferred from NSFAS.
4. If no allocation is made by NSFAS, students will need to fund their own studies or deregister, with no debt accumulation.
These additional financial arrangements come at a huge cost to the UFS and places a severe strain on the resources of the institution. The university will be unable to provideany further financial assistance.
The arrangements will be implemented from Thursday 11 March 2021, noting FTENs will need verification if an application is in place.
Download the statement (pdf)