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University of the Free State suspends all academic activities after student protests

14 October 2025 | Story Lacea Loader

The University of the Free State (UFS) suspended all academic activities until further notice on 14 October 2025, following student protest actions that had taken place on its three campuses over the past week.

The protests are related to the introduction of a fairer, more equitable, and sustainable financial support system for ALL students as of 2026. Under this system, academically qualifying students will be fully registered once their fees or funding have been confirmed. All students funded by the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) will continue to be registered in full. This will provide greater certainty about registration status and enable the gradual phasing out of provisional registration. The UFS is the only university in South Africa that allowed students to register while they still had outstanding fees.

Situation on the campuses

The Qwaqwa Campus is closed with immediate effect, and students have been requested to vacate the campus within the next 24 hours. This decision follows incidents on the evening of 13 October 2025, during which a group of students caused extensive damage to university property, engaged in acts of vandalism and arson, and during which several security officers sustained injuries and three remain hospitalised. The university strongly condemns the violent and destructive behaviour displayed during these incidents.

The Executive Management Committee (Exco) of the university expresses its deep concern about the situation on the Qwaqwa Campus and is currently assessing the full extent of the damage.

The university’s Protection Services continues to monitor the situation closely to ensure the safety of staff and students.

On the Bloemfontein and South Campuses, all lectures are suspended until further notice; however, only limited movement will be allowed on campus from 19:00 in the evening until 07:00 in the morning.

The university’s Exco has extended an invitation to the Student Representative Councils (SRCs) of all three campuses for continued engagement on the issues that have led to the protests.

Circulation of false information on social media

The university has noted false social media reports alleging that a student was killed during the protest on the Qwaqwa Campus. These reports are incorrect.

Impact of rising levels of student debt

For many years, the UFS was the only university in South Africa that allowed students to register while they still had outstanding fees. This practice reflected the university’s commitment to access. However, there are deep concerns about the rising levels of student debt and the accumulation, leaving students with unserviceable debt at graduation, and together with other contributing factors, debt levels have amounted to close to a billion rand over the past five years.

A comprehensive review and analysis of the 2025 registration data found that the practice of provisional registration was not deemed an effective mechanism to support students with financial challenges. Each year, an average of 8% of UFS students were provisionally registered. In 2025, the majority of students who had registered provisionally and signed payment arrangements were unable to meet their commitments. This caused a high level of stress and uncertainty for students.

Notably, students who were successfully registered in full in 2025 did so primarily through UFS-funded bursaries, rather than personal payment.

Proactive, student-centred financial support strategy

To address this, and in agreement with the 2024/2025 Institutional Student Representative Council (ISRC), the university has resolved to phase out provisional registration at the end of 2025 and implement a proactive, student-centred financial support strategy.

During a meeting between the university management and the Institutional Student Representative Council (ISRC) on 10 October 2025, it was agreed that the gradual phasing in of this system and approach will NOT affect the following students:

Students who have confirmed funding from the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS), irrespective of their historical debt category.
Students with confirmed financial aid and historic debt of less than R20 000.
Students with debt outstanding less than R30 000 (these students can register in full for 2026, subject to the payment of a first payment and settlement of historic debt by 30 May 2026).
Students with debt outstanding more than R30 000 need to reduce their historic debt to R30 000 to qualify for point 3 above.

It was also agreed with the ISRC that academically qualifying students with historic debt of more than R30 000 will be prioritised in funding applications for bursaries, provided that proof of their own application is given.

The implication of the above is that only 6% of currently registered students with outstanding fees will have to either obtain financial support in the form of bursaries or settle a portion of their fees.

Bursary support for academically qualifying students

Under the university’s student-centred financial support strategy, bursary applications for the 2026 academic year opened on 11 October 2025 for final-year bursaries, and other bursaries will open on 20 October 2025, giving students adequate time to plan and secure funding. The university will also provide targeted financial advising to help students manage their finances, apply for funding, and avoid registration-related crises.

As part of this transition, no deregistration of provisionally registered students took place in 2025. In addition, the VC-ISRC Imbewu Legacy Fund has been established as a joint initiative between the university and the ISRC to create a dedicated vehicle for additional funding to support students at risk. Final-year and leadership bursaries have been created to assist academically qualifying final-year students in 2026 to settle historic debt, ensuring that deserving students are able to continue their studies and complete their qualifications. Applications for the VC-ISRC Imbewu Legacy Fund and the final-year and leadership bursaries must be submitted within the time period.

The UFS remains committed to supporting all our students by building a fairer, more equitable, and sustainable support system that promotes access, success, and responsible financial sustainability.

Issued by:

Lacea Loader

Senior Director: Communication and Marketing

University of the Free State

loaderl@ufs.ac.za

Read more updates:

University of the Free State introduces a fairer, equitable, and sustainable financial support system for all students

Update: Resolutions by the Executive Management Committee of the University of the Free State (UFS) effective on 14 October 2025

News Archive

UFS launches history book

2007-02-02


Attending the launch of the UFS history book were, from the left: Prof Stef Coetzee, Prof Francois Retief, Prof Wynand Mouton, Mr Pieter Cox (Chairperson on Sasol) and Prof Frederick Fourie (Rector and Vice-Chancellor of the UFS). Profs Coetzee, Retief and Mouton are former rectors of the UFS.
UFS launches history book The University of the Free State (UFS) today launched its history book titled, From Grey to Gold, on the Main Campus in Bloemfontein. “The history of the UFS is one of faith, hope, struggle and determination. The book tells a fascinating story that stretches over a 100 years. It is divided into five main phases, which tells about the growth of the UFS from a poor Free State community to a mature university. Interesting stories about student days, sport, rag and hostel activities are included in each phase,” Prof Frederick Fourie, Rector and Vice-Chancellor said during the launch of the book. “One cannot know where you are going if you don’t know where you are coming from. You have a clearer idea of the issues facing an institution if you know the history. A book like this one is also an important source of reference for staff on the campus,” said Prof Fourie. The first research for the book was done from 1999-2003 by Prof Leo Barnard from the Department of History and a team of researchers. They also compiled the first manuscript. During the last three years, Prof Fourie was closely involved with the writing of the final phase and finishing off the history book project. “It was an honour to be so closely involved with the story of the UFS because now I have a better understanding of the institution, its people, its culture and its way of thinking. For any rector of a university, such an understanding of its institution is a requirement,” Prof Fourie said. The book is partly sponsored by Sasol. During the launch of the book, Mr Pieter Cox, Chairperson of Sasol said the company and the UFS have been partners for 57 years. “Both Sasol and the UFS are striving for excellence – Sasol for excellence in technology and the UFS for excellence in education,” said Mr Cox. “It was an easy decision when the UFS approached Sasol for financial support of the history book. Its a formidable piece of work, something Prof Fourie and the UFS can be proud of,” said Mr Cox. The book consists of more than 500 pages with hundreds of photos and a wide range of supplements of office-bearers, awards and achievements (including national and sporting colours). A timeline framework, putting the history of the UFS in context with the history of the Free State, South Africa and of the world, is also included. Besides the supplements, the history book also tells the story of amongst others the establishment of the UFS; the role of its founding fathers; black pioneers of transformation; the establishment and development of academic departments and faculties; student numbers; pioneers and trends in research; academic entrepreneurs; campus issues and campus politics; interesting facts and stories about student life (rag, intervarsity and cheerleaders, sport and the Springboks, hostel traditions); the admission of black students and anguish about race; language and culture; the development of the Main Campus; the Tickey and the Banana and much more. Emphasis is placed on a very high level of quality. “It is not every day that the university becomes hundred years old and the institution will be measured by the quality of the book. We cannot say the UFS is a university of excellence if the book does not reflect that,” Ms Edma Pelzer, Director: Physical Resources and Special Projects said. Ms Pelzer managed the project as part of the last mentioned part of her portfolio. The search for photographs was an important aspect of the book and it was a big task to find photographs and write captions. It took almost a year to translate and prepare the English edition and almost ten months to ensure the accuracy thereof, especially to correctly translate the typical Free State and UFS terminology and naturally to complete the English manuscript’s layout and proofreading. In the mean time the cover pages were designed and in September 2006 the manuscript went into the final print process. The Afrikaans title is: Van Sink tot Sandsteen tot Graniet. The cost of the book is R380 per copy. Those who already ordered the book will soon receive their copy. Orders can be placed by contacting Mr Dawid Kriel at UFS Marketing on 051 401 3409 or on the UFS web site at www.ufs.ac.za. The book is also available at Van Schaik Book Store on the Thakaneng Bridge, UFS Main Campus and at Fascination Books in Mimosa Mall, Bloemfontein. Media release Issued by: Lacea Loader Media Representative Tel: (051) 401-2584 Cell: 083 645 2454 E-mail: loaderl@mail.uovs.ac.za 2 February 2007

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