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2020 NSFAS Funding at Universities

04 March 2020

What does the bursary cover?

• Accommodation
• Transport (up to 40 km from institution)
• Meal allowance (including incidental allowance)
• Book allowance
• Registration
• Tuition
• Funded students with disabilities need to submit claims for assistive devices and human support directly to the university’s Centre for Universal Access and Disability Support (CUADS)/Financial Aid office.

Who qualifies for NSFAS allowances?

STUDENTS STAYING IN A RESIDENCE:
• Books up to a maximum of R5 200
• Actual accommodation cost
• Meals (including incidental allowance) up to a maximum of R15 000

STUDENTS LIVING OFF CAMPUS IN FAMILY ACCOMMODATION

• Books up to a maximum of R5 200
• Meals (including incidental allowance) up to a maximum of R15 000
• Transport up to a maximum of R7 500

STUDENTS LIVING OFF CAMPUS IN ACCREDITED and NON-ACCREDITED ACCOMMODATION:

• Books up to a maximum of R5 200
• Private accommodation amount to a maximum of R34 400
• Meals (including incidental allowance) up to a maximum of R15 000

DISTANCE-LEARNING STUDENTS:

• Books based on the number of modules registered, up to a maximum of R5 200

Please note that students who were registered for the first time at a tertiary institution before 2018 are subject to a maximum NSFAS amount for the year. The maximum NSFAS amount for 2020 is R93 400.
According to NSFAS policy, payments must be made in the following order of priority if your qualifying NSFAS costs exceed the maximum amount:
1. Tuition
2. Books
3. Accommodation
4. Meals
5. Transport
This means that the amount by which you exceeded the maximum NSFAS amount must be deducted from your allowances, starting with the transport and meal allowances. Therefore, you might not receive the full allowances.

How will NSFAS allowances be paid?

NSFAS allowances will be paid in cash to the student via the Fundi system. Once the allowances are debited to your student class-fee account, you will receive an SMS message from Fundi to upload your banking details. Fundi will confirm your banking details and payment will follow.

Please note that no payments will be made to a third party.
You only need to upload your banking details once. If you experience any problems with uploading your banking details, please contact Fundi at 086 055 5544.

When will I receive my NSFAS allowances?

NSFAS allowances will be paid during the first week of each month over a period of 10 months. Please note that due to several variables, a specific date for payment cannot be provided.

How do I apply for NSFAS private accommodation?

Please visit the UFS website for a complete guide:
Students
Financial Aid

When will I receive my private accommodation payment?

You must apply online for your private accommodation. It is compulsory to upload your rental agreement and proof of home address. If your private accommodation application is approved by the 25th of a month, you will receive payment from your move-in date up to date during the first week of the following month, and thereafter you will receive your monthly payments until November.

How will I know if my private accommodation application status has changed?

You will immediately receive an email on your ufs4life email address when your status changes.

What should I do if my private accommodation application is incomplete?

Please log in on your Student Self-Service. The reasons for your incomplete application will be listed under your private accommodation application. Please correct the application and resubmit. Please do not resubmit if the application was not corrected.
Please visit the website for clear explanations on the reasons for incomplete applications if you are unsure of what is expected of you.

Please note that no payment will be made before your private accommodation application is approved.

When is the closing date for NSFAS private accommodation applications?
The closing date for private accommodation applications is 11 September 2020. Please note that no extension will be granted.

News Archive

UFS doctors fight childhood cancer

2016-09-02

Description: Childhood cancer Tags: Childhood cancer

Prof David Stones and Dr Jan du Plessis of the
University of Free State’s paediatric oncology ward
are helping little lives, one patient at a time.
Photo: Nonsindiso Qwabe

Of 23 paediatric oncology specialists nationally, Prof David Stones and Dr Jan du Plessis of the University of Free State are the only ones in the province.

Committed to giving holistic care to their patients, the two doctors specialise in all types of childhood cancers, the most common being leukaemia, brain tumour, and nephroblastoma.

They describe the childhood malignancy as a lethal disease, unpredictability being its harshest trait. “With cancer, you can just never know. It precipitates and multiplies, and leads to the failure of other organs. You can just always hope, and keep trying,” said Du Plessis.

The paediatric oncology unit of the Universitas Academic Hospital, their unit, is the liveliest floor in the entire building. It is also the third busiest in South Africa, serving a demographic that spans the Free State and Northern Cape, as well as parts of North West, Eastern Cape and Lesotho.

Each year, the unit receives more than 100 new childhood cancer patients. In 2015, the unit had 113 newly diagnosed patients, an increase from 93 in 2014.

Lack of knowledge poses a serious challenge
According to the two experts, the lack of insight and awareness of the disease remain a big challenge to fighting it. “It is frustrating. Parents and family members don’t know anything about it. Nurses and doctors aren’t always clinically trained to pick up the early warning signs. By the time a diagnosis is made, life and death is on a 50% margin,” Stones said.

Poverty, a lack of resources, overcrowding and a range of health issues are other factors that have a profound effect on the diagnosis and treatment of the disease.

Making a contribution that will last
With a desire to see an improvement on life outcomes in the health sector, the team is focusing on educating the country’s doctors of tomorrow. Their unit is the only one in the country that actively involves medical students in an oncology unit, giving them practical experience and exposure to the individual cases each patient presents. They have also produced a substantial amount of research literature on childhood malignancies in South Africa as a developing country.

Driven by passion to see a better South Africa
The doctors are passionate about the work they do, and remain hopeful there will be a change in the incidence of childhood cancer not just in decreased levels of the disease, but also in the overall state of well-being of young South Africans.

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