NSFAS pays R1.3bn upfront for registration fees

NSFAS said this payment equated to at least 15 percent of the total and final budget that each university may get for enrolling students who are eligible for government funding when a final number of enrolled students is confirmed at the end of the registration period.

NSFAS spokesperson, Kagisho Mamabolo, said they expected universities to work with them to ensure that registration of funded students went as smooth as possible because government had confirmed funding.

"All returning students, who were funded in 2016, should not panic as they will automatically be funded in 2017 without having to apply for financial aid, provided they have signed the agreement form for financial assistance and they have passed at least 50 percent of their enrolled modules," Mamabolo said in a statement.

Mamabolo said NSFAS was confident that there would not be any student turned away, who has secured space, because of lack of funding as over 160,000 students had been approved for funding.

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"We expect that our students will be treated fairly and not be discriminated against based on their backgrounds," Mamabolo said.

While there are still some students who have not received confirmatory SMSes from NSFAS, applications for funding for university students are now officially closed, and there will be no extension.

Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) college students still have until midnight 14 February 2017 to submit their applications.

Mamabolo also reassured the public, saying "the Scheme will continue to approve more students every day and is expected to finalise all applications by close of business on 27 January 2017".

NSFAS management is expected to address the nation on the 2017 financial aid statistics awarded to students at universities and TVET colleges, by next week.