By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
The Higher Education Department has announced that National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) applications for the 2025 academic year will open on Friday (20 September).
The application process, originally set to open on Monday (16 September), was postponed due to stakeholder engagements that were concluded on Sunday.
At a media briefing in Pretoria on Monday, Higher Education Minister Nobuhle Nkabane said the launch of the application process was postponed due to talks with student organisations over the weekend.
Nkabane said the meeting with key stakeholders was aimed at addressing and improving the Nsfas systems to better serve South Africa’s growing student population.
These stakeholders included the Progressive Youth Alliance (PYA), the Economic Freedom Fighters Student Command (EFFSC), the Pan Africanist Student Movement of Azania (Pasma), and others.
Institutional governance bodies such as the South African Union of Students (SAUS) and Universities South Africa (USAF) were also involved.
She said, “We are confident that this year’s process will run more smoothly and that students will experience fewer delays.
Nkabane said that the decision to delay the application launch was also driven by the need to conduct a dry run of the online system and incorporate feedback from stakeholders.
She said that this approach aimed to address past frustrations related to delayed payments and inadequate system performance.
She emphasised a commitment to expanding the college sector and aligning higher education with national skills needs.
The minster said, “We are committed to expanding our technical and vocational education institutions, with the goal of enrolling 2.5 million students by 2030. This will significantly increase access to education for more young people.
She has also announced plans to terminate its lease with its landlord in Cape Town, where it pays R2.5 million per month to house its head office.
“The plan is to decentralise. We are going to establish regional offices in three provinces, which is the Eastern Cape, Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal. We will see how best we can come up with satellite offices in other provinces.”
Nkabane added that students currently preparing for their matriculation exams, as well as those from years nine to 11 interested in Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET), are encouraged to apply for Nsfas support.
For further information and application details, students and the public are advised to visit the Nsfas website at www.nsfas.org.za and on their Facebook page National Student Financial Aid Scheme (Nsfas).