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05 March 2019 | Story André Badenhorst

 

UPDATE: 11 March 2019
General NSFAS information 

Do you come from a poor or working-class family with a combined household income of not more than R350 000 per annum?

The Department of Higher Education and Training has a bursary designed to assist you with funding towards a tertiary qualification of your choice. The bursary is administered by the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) and is available for persons who wish to or are studying at a public institution of higher education and training (university or TVET college).

Who qualifies for NSFAS?

Funding will be available to:

  • Students from families with a combined household income of not more than R350 000 (three hundred and fifty thousand rands) per annum, registering at TVET colleges and universities for the first time.
  • Students returning to TVET colleges and universities to complete or continue their first undergraduate qualification. Only select postgraduate qualifications are funded, please refer to the website for the full list.
  • Students from families with a combined household income of up to R122 000 (one hundred and twenty-two thousand rands) returning to TVET colleges and universities after a gap year or two to complete their first undergraduate qualification.
  • Students from families who are recipients of child-support grants or disability grants administered through the South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) will automatically qualify for NSFAS funding.
  • Orphans will automatically qualify for NSFAS funding, provided that there is confirmation of their status.


    NSFAS funding for postgraduate qualifications

    NSFAS only accepts funding applications for the following postgraduate qualifications:

    BTECH: ARCHITECTURAL TECHNOLOGY

    BTECH: ARCHITECTURE (PROFESSIONAL)

    BTECH: BIOKINETICS

    BTECH: BIOMEDICAL TECHNOLOGY

    BTECH: BIOTECHNOLOGY

    BTECH: CARTOGRAPHY

    BTECH: CHIROPRACTIC

    BTECH: CLINICAL TECHNOLOGY

    BTECH: DENTAL TECHNOLOGY

    BTECH: EMERGENCY MEDICAL CARE

    BTECH: ENGINEERING: CHEMICAL

    BTECH: ENGINEERING: CIVIL

    BTECH: ENGINEERING: ELECTRICAL

    BTECH: ENGINEERING: INDUSTRIAL

    BTECH: ENGINEERING: MECHANICAL

    BTECH: ENGINEERING: MECHANICAL: MECHATRONICS

    BTECH: ENGINEERING: METALLURGY

    BTECH: ENGINEERING: REFRACTORIES

    BTECH: FORESTRY

    BTECH: HOMOEOPATHY

    BTECH: NURSING

    BTECH: NURSING SCIENCE

    BTECH: NURSING: COMMUNITY NURSING

    BTECH: NURSING: PRIMARY HEALTHCARE

    BTECH: NURSING: OCCUPATIONAL NURSING

    PGCE

    LLB

    MB CHB

    PGDA

What the bursary covers

NSFAS funding covers the actual cost of tuition plus prescribed learning materials – this means the tuition fee for the specific programme that the student is registered for; these fees differ, depending on the field of study (e.g. engineering; medicine; art; history, etc.) and the institution that the student is admitted to; AND dependent on eligibility, subsidised accommodation and living costs, including meals. The bursary funding is for the duration of study and does not require any repayment.

Upon qualifying for the NSFAS bursary, a beneficiary is required to sign a NSFAS Bursary Agreement with terms and conditions. Beneficiaries will then be expected to:

  • Comply with all academic requirements as set by institutions;
  • Attend and participate in lectures, tutorials, and academic support programmes as required by the institution;
  • Complete all set assignments and/or tasks as required in terms of the due performance requirements of the institution;
  • Undergo all tests and examinations (written and oral) as required in terms of the due performance requirements of the institution.


Statement: 6 February 2019
NSFAS completes review of rejected applications and prepares for appeals

The online application process for 2019 NSFAS private accommodation allowances is open.

More information on how to apply for NSFAS Private Accommodation

The National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) has completed all assessments of the 2019 applications of first time entering students. Of the 417 000 applications received, more than 300 000 students have been declared approved, pending registration at public institutions for NSFAS funded qualifications.

Read the full statement

Also see the following documents:

1.    NSFAS Bursary Information 2019: Admitted to Higher Education prior to 2018
2.    NSFAS Bursary Information 2019: FTEN and 2018 FTEN Renewals
3.    Annexure A: NSFAS Allowance 2019
4.    Annexure B: NSFAS Appeal Form (Application Review)
5.    Annexure C: NSFAS Appeal Form

Statement: 5 February 2019
Application form for NSFAS appeals

With reference to our previous communication (4 February 2019; "Students who had a gap year in NSFAS funding or failed to register previously and could not reapply for funding, must also follow the appeal process"). It is herewith confirmed the application form for NSFAS appeals from returning students who had NSFAS funding in 2018, but who did not meet the funding requirements for 2019, was received on Monday 4 February 2019 and is available on the UFS web. Students must please make sure that they appeal for funding on the correct application form.

These appeal-application forms as well as all relevant documentation must be handed in at the Financial Aid offices, George du Toit Administration Building, Room S011 on the Ground Floor.
 
The closing date for submission to Financial Aid is 8 March 2019.
 
Returning students in this category who appeal for 2019 funding may register provisionally and refer to the provisional-registration requirements and processes.


Statement: 4 February 2019
More information about NSFAS allowances

New first time entering students and 2018 first time entering renewals
Admitted to Higher Education prior to 2018


NSFAS appeals for rejected 2019 funding applications
The appeal process for first-time NSFAS applicants who do not qualify for 2019 NSFAS funding, may submit an appeal to have their applications reviewed. The appeal form is available on the NSFAS website. NSFAS will reconsider an unsuccessful funding decision based on the changed material circumstances of a senior student who applied for NSFAS for the first time. NSFAS intends to resolve these appeals within seven working days of receipt, unless there is insufficient information. The closing date for the appeal process of students who applied for 2019 funding prior to the closing date of 2 December 2018, is 8 March 2019.
 
The appeal process (media release) has been communicated through social media, Blackboard, emails, NewsFlash, the media, the UFS website, and the SRC.
 
It was also indicated that Financial Aid would be in a position to assist students with the appeal process from 1 February 2019. Students are therefore requested to visit the Financial Aid offices. Alternatively, students can submit appeals, together with the required documentation, directly to NSFAS at applicationreview@nsfas.org.za
 
The appeal-application form, as well as the media release, also indicates which documents students should bring along when they are appealing.
 
Students who had a gap year in NSFAS funding or failed to register previously and could not reapply for funding, must also follow the appeal process.
 
The appeal process for 2018 NSFAS-funded students (returning students) who no longer meet the criteria for funding in 2019, will be communicated as soon as we receive official communication as well as application forms for completion from NSFAS. This will be a different process with a separate appeal-application form.



Statement: 25 January 2019
NSFAS completes review of rejected applications and prepares for appeals

The National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) has completed all assessments for the 2019 applications of first-time entering students. Of the 417 000 applications received, more than 300 000 students have been approved, pending registration for NSFAS-funded qualifications at public institutions.
 
According to André Badenhorst, Deputy Director: Financial Aid at the University of the Free State, this process is only for students/applicants who applied for 2019 NSFAS funding prior to 2 December 2018. The appeal process for continuing/returning students who had NSFAS funding in 2018, will be communicated as soon as we receive official communication from NSFAS in this regard. It would be a different process with a separate appeal application form.
 
“Financial Aid offices will be in a position to assist students with the appeal process as from Friday 1 February 2019,” he said.
 
The closing date of the appeal process for students who applied for funding in 2019 prior to the closing date of 2 December 2018, is 8 March 2019.

Read the full statement



News Archive

Historians must place African history on world stage – Dr Zeleza
2017-05-30

 Description: Historians must place African history on world stage Tags: Historians must place African history on world stage

From the left: Panellists Rev Henry Jackson,
Prof Irikidzayi Manase and Arno Van Niekerk at a book
launch and panel discussion on Africa Day hosted by the
UFS Sasol Library.
Photo: Mamosa Makaya

“African historians must take seriously the challenge of placing African history in world history, and in the history of our species, Homo sapiens.”

With these words, Dr Paul Tiyambe Zeleza, Vice Chancellor of the United States International University-Africa in Nairobi, Kenya, stressed the continent’s challenge.

According to him the contest should continue to recover and reconstruct Africa’s long history. Liberating African knowledges can be done by: “Provincialising Europe that has monopolised universality, universalising Africa beyond its Eurocentric provincialisation, and engaging histories of other continents on their own terms.”

University celebrates Africa Month in various ways  
Dr Zeleza delivered the ninth Africa Day Memorial Lecture, titled The Decolonisation of African Knowledges, at the University of the Free State (UFS). The lecture, hosted by the Centre for Africa Studies (CAS), took place on 24 May 2017 in the Equitas Auditorium on the Bloemfontein Campus and was one of the ways in which the UFS celebrated Africa Month.

Scholars should immerse themselves in these thoughts
Dr Zeleza focused on two issues, which he said were interconnected. They were the unfinished project of decolonising African knowledges and the continent's positioning in global knowledge production.

He said Africa’s scholars and students should “immerse themselves in the rich traditions of African social thought going back millennia”. According to him the continent’s research profile still remains weak in global terms.

“It is imperative that the various key stakeholders in African higher education from governments to the general public to parents, and to students, faculty, staff, and administrators in the academic institutions themselves, raise the value proposition of African higher education for 21st century African societies, economies, and polities.”

“Colonialism is associated with injustice
and inequality, but what happens when
our liberators become our oppressors?”

Library celebrates with panel discussion and book launch
The UFS Sasol Library celebrated Africa Day by presenting a book launch and panel discussion on 25 May 2017, on the pertinent and current political theme of land redistribution with a comparative basis of land invasions in Zimbabwe.

Prof Irikidzayi Manase discussed his book White Narratives: The Depiction of Post-2000 Land Invasions in Zimbabwe, accompanied by Rev Henry Jackson who wrote Another Farm in Africa. A perspective of the economic implications of land redistribution in South Africa was discussed by panellist Arno Van Niekerk: Senior Lecturer of Economics at the UFS Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences.

Inequality still an African problem
The content of the books are a stark reminder of the burning issues of inequality and loss of identity of those who lost their farms in Zimbabwe, a collection of memoirs by white farmers and their families. Rev Jackson gave a religious perspective on reconciliation, forgiveness and the question of land ownership, saying that healing of injustice begins with forgiveness of past transgressions.

Van Niekerk highlighted that while land issues were important, “social cohesion is affected by the economic decisions that will be made”. In closing, Prof Manase called for serious consideration of what the future may hold. “Colonialism is associated with injustice and inequality, but what happens when our liberators become our oppressors?” 

The panel discussion was attended by staff and students of the university, and was lit up by robust discussions on possible historical and future solutions to the question of land, decolonisation and political power struggles in Southern Africa and lessons to be learned from Zimbabwe.

UFS celebrates Africa Month (24 May 2017)

 

 

 

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