Students whose financial aid applications were unsuccessful can appeal to the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS).

"There are unfortunately some students who have been unsuccessful, based on information that we received from credit bureaus regarding their household income. Should a student want to dispute this outcome because of changes to the household income or Sassa status, they may lodge an appeal by providing the necessary documentation to NSFAS,” said spokesperson for the scheme Kagisho Mamabolo.

Students can lodge their appeals by completing a form that can be downloaded from the scheme’s website or by submitting their appeals directly to NSFAS offices, Mamabolo said.

He said appeals would be considered only if:

• There is a "material" change in combined household income
• A student lost a bursary/sponsor in the 2018 academic cycle
• A student failed to meet academic criteria while he/she had a satisfactory academic track record
• If more than one student from the same household is concurrently enrolled at a tertiary institution.

According to Mamabolo, NSFAS has assessed all 2019 applications of first-year students.

"Of the 417,000 applications received, more than 300,000 students have been declared approved, pending registration at public institutions for NSFAS funded qualifications.

"In December 2018, the NSFAS administrator, Dr Randall Carolissen, called for a review of the 109,000 applications that were initially unsuccessful for the 2019 academic year.  Following this process, more than 60,000 of these applicants have subsequently been declared financially eligible. As NSFAS processed applications in the pipeline, the number of unsuccessful applicants escalated to 65,000."

Students are encouraged to log on the NSFAS self-service portal www.nsfas.org.za to check their application status. Successful applications will be indicated as: “Approved for funding subject to registration.”  

Source: TMG Digital