National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) applications will open on Wednesday 28 September 2022.
Minister of Higher Education Blade Nzimande made the announcement in a media briefing on Tuesday.
Nzimande said the process was opening sooner than usual to give to give prospective applicants more time to submit supporting documents.
“There have been a number of enhancements made to the system to ensure a seamless application experience. After benchmarking similar platforms, the NSFAS online application portal was redesigned to be more user-friendly and closer to other platforms that prospective applicants are accustomed to such as WhatsApp, Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram,” he said.
“The application process itself has been simplified and the questions asked are easier to understand by the public. Additionally, applicants can pause the process and continue at a later stage without restarting from scratch, something which was not possible in previous cycles,” says Nzimande.
Nzimande said the scheme developed more channels of application to cater to applicants from diverse backgrounds.
“Furthermore, to ensure that no applicant is left behind, NSFAS will embark on an outreach campaign, to ensure that individuals who do not have access to technological devices that enable them to apply online are given the necessary resources and support to apply,” Nzimande said.
Funding is available for qualifying students who are South African citizens and who plans to study next year or who are already pursuing their studies at a public university of TVET college.
Source: Eyewitness News, Jacaranda FM, The Skills Portal, image from Twitter: @HigherEduGovZA