For many South African parents, sending their child to university is a dream that they are not sure they can attain.
Of course, the ideal situation is to start saving for tertiary education when your child is born. But in reality, not many families have saved enough, or can easily afford to pay for tertiary education.
Fortunately, there are options for financing study expenses – but they take a bit of planning and paperwork.
If your child is nearing the end of high school, use this handy guide to work out how you will fund their studies as they take the next step in their academic career.
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Applying for university funding Different universities have different financial aid solutions, including bursaries which are offered to students who have excelled academically, and subsidies offered to families who would struggle to pay fees.
In addition to the NSFAS funding (discussed in the next point) universities have discretionary funds to cover the fees of students in need.
Do your research – here is a list of university funding offices. Go through your preferred university’s website or ask at the administration office where you should go and what the eligibility criteria are for the different types of funding.
Deadline:
The closing date for applications is usually October, so you may have missed the deadline for this year – but it’s worth being aware for next year if your child is a strong or in-need student.
How to pay it back: University financial aid is a discount on fees and does not need to be paid back.
Applying for government funding The National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) is a government organisation that aims to provide a sustainable financial aid system for poor but academically able students.
The scheme works in conjunction with the public higher education institutions and technical and vocational education training (TVET) colleges nationally.
How to pay it back:
It is possible to convert a portion of the NSFAS loan to a bursary that does not need to be repaid. A 100% pass rate results in a 40% bursary rebate.
Students who receive an NSFAS loan are required to start paying it back in the beginning of the year in which they first start earning an income.
The repayments start at 3% of their annual salary and increases on a sliding scale up to a maximum of 8% as their salary increases. The interest is subsidised at 80% of the rate that commercial banks would charge.
Applying for corporate funding Many South African and multinational companies offer students bursaries to study in the field the company operates in – and sometimes in any field of study.
If your child has excelled in the STEM (Science Technology Engineering Mathematics) subjects, they are particularly likely to find corporate funding.
Some organizations offer bursaries and or loans to children of their staff members – ask your employer if they do.
Bursaries South Africa is a good starting point for finding out the types of bursary and eligibility criteria that the different corporations offer.
Deadline:
These deadlines vary from bursary to bursary.
How to pay it back:
Some bursaries require no repayment at all, while others require the graduate to “work it back” by working for in the donor company after they have completed their studies.
Applying for bursaries offered by government departments in the same way as many corporates offer funding, so too do government departments.
Each government department provides bursaries in its area of focus – so for instance, the Department of Health offers bursaries in dentistry or pharmacy.
These bursaries are offered on a national and provincial level, varying from department to department.
