Attending a university or college comes with many monthly expenses, which is why NSFAS provides their students with monthly allowances to help with those costs.
Besides tuition fees, many costs are associated with studying at a university or TVET college, such as paying for books, stationery, food and toiletries.
NSFAS has helped its students by introducing an allowance system which covers most of these extra costs.
Students who qualify for a government bursary will be eligible to receive funding for study-related expenses known as a student allowance.
NSFAS beneficiaries are provided with a student allowance monthly, which usually begin when academic activities resume. These allowances are paid in cash, either directly to the student via NSFAS Wallet or via the institution to the student.
Allowances are subject to annual increases determined by the Consumer Price Index (CPI). Students are funded according to their specific university needs and expenses.
According to the NSFAS website, the following allowances are included in the bursary:
UNIVERSITY
- Accommodation: amount is the actual cost charged by the university. If private, the cost must not exceed costs for university residence.
- Transport: R7 875 per year (up to 40 km from the institution)
- Living allowance: R15 750 per year
- Book allowance: R5 460 per year (only applies at universities)
- Personal Care allowance: R3 045 per year
TVET
- Accommodation:
- TVET college own catered residence – R54 045 per year
- TVET college managed own and leased self-catered accommodation – maximum of R45 000 per year and R6 000 per year living allowance paid to the TVET college
- private accommodation – R45 000 per year
- Transport: R7 718 (up to 10 km from the institution)
- Personal Care allowance: R3 045 per year
- Living allowance: R6 000 per year
The personal care allowance was recently introduced to assist students in paying for toiletries.
For more information about NSFAS, visit their website
