The National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) says it is not accepting any more applications after students started a petition for a “second window”.
NSFAS spokesperson Kagisho Mamabolo said the closing date was on 30 November and they received a record number of applications.
“With a total of 543 268 first-time applications (prior year 428 929, a 26% growth) from across the country, with the vast majority of applicants submitting applications online via myNSFAS
portal,” Mamabolo said.
This week, students, under the hashtag #OpenNSFAS, started an online petition, asking President Cyril Ramaphosa and Higher Education Minister Blade Nzimande to intervene and re-open the applications.
Many said while they were accepted at institutions of higher learning, they lacked funding.
Petition organiser Phiwaba Madokwe said: “We have been assisting students in our personal capacity from different institutions with late registrations, with walk-ins and they would now call and say I have been accepted at this institution but I do not have funding.”
He said if institutions are allowing prospective students to apply in January and February, “surely the logic should be that also funding should be made available for those people”.
Madokwe said the petition will be consolidated and sent to the presidency.
But Mamabolo said all applications had been processed over the festive season, and to date 428 377 applications have been approved for NSFAS funding.
He said students who wished to appeal the NSFAS ruling to disqualify were invited to appeal in the event that their household circumstances had changed.