The National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) has published its allowance plan for 2024. NSFAS is a South African government programme that provides financial assistance to students in the country to manage their tuition and registration fees. At the time of writing, the programme has received over 1.7 million applications for the 2024 academic year.
The NSFAS Allowance will be given to qualified students who will use it to take care of their tuition costs, accommodation, food, required books etc. for the 2024 academic year.
Living Allowance
University: Students attending universities will receive R3 045 for personal care, and R13 455 will be for meal allowances, totalling R16,500 per annum.
TVET College: Students attending TVET colleges will receive a living allowance of R10 000 per annum.
Travel or Accommodation Allowances
University students who applied for an accommodation allowance with NSFAS will receive one and the amount received depends on whether the accommodation is in a metro or non-metro area.
- Institution-owned or leased accommodation and private accommodation allowance in metro areas will be capped at R50 000 per annum. Accommodation in other areas will be capped at R41 000 per annum
- Students who reside in accommodation catered by the institute will qualify for a maximum capped allowance of R66 500 (in metro areas) and R57 500 (in other areas). This accommodation allowance includes both the living and personal care allowance.
- Institutions in non-metro areas can request that NSFAS review these caps in exceptional circumstances.
Students who can provide accommodation for themselves will not qualify for an accommodation allowance but will get an NSFAS travel allowance, up to a maximum of R7 875 per annum.
Academic materials Allowance
All university students will receive an academic/learning material allowance, a maximum of R5 460 per annum. This is a one-off payment at the beginning of the academic year for the purchase of books, devices, and other important academic material.
Distance Learning Allowance
Distance learning students will also receive allowances from NSFAS depending on the number of modules registered, with a maximum of R5 460. If a student has a full-time course credit load, he/she qualifies for a personal care allowance at R3 045 per annum. He/she needs to have 120 course credits in one year.
NSFAS Allowance for Students With Disabilities
Students who are living with disabilities will receive a one-off assistive device allowance from NSFAS which is R50 000, as well as funding for repairs and maintenance valued at R2 000 per year. The living allowance for these students will be up to R20 000 per annum, with the learning material allowance being R6 000.
Note that students living with disabilities will not automatically qualify for the assistance devices and repair allowance. The allowance will only be allocated should the student’s application for this aid be approved, with all conditions and criteria being met.
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