For students who qualify, NSFAS provides student loans and bursaries and NSFAS Appeal supporting Documents. If your application is denied, we provide information on how to appeal.
For students who qualify, NSFAS provides student loans and bursaries. They granted over 300,000 financing applications last year, but they also turned down 65, 000.
You may ask NSFAS to review your application if it is denied.
According to NSFAS, an appeal form may be obtained on the organization’s website, www.nsfas.org.za, and must be completed and sent to the institution’s Financial Aid Office.
Students may also send their appeals to NSFAS directly at, accompanied with the relevant paperwork.
Only the following reasons will be considered in appeals:
Material change in combined family income (for students who were not previously financed, evidence of loss of income is required along with a properly filled NSFAS form);
Loss of a bursary/sponsorship during the 2019 academic year (documented evidence must be submitted, along with a completely completed NSFAS application form);
Failure to achieve academic standards notwithstanding previous acceptable academic performance (give supporting information and evidence detailing the reasons for the poor performance);
Failure to complete academic requirements owing to a medical condition (s) or the loss of a close relative (give supporting proof);
Student had a gap year in NSFAS funding or had previously failed to register and was unable to reapply;
more than one student from the same family enrolled in a university/TVET college at the same time; and
Applying for a post-graduate degree that has been authorized (see section F on the appeal form for list).
Students are encouraged to check their application status updates on the my NSFAS Appeal Form www.nsfas.org.za. For those students who have been approved for funding, their status will now reflect: ‘Approved for funding subject to registration,’ and for those who have been rejected for funding, their status will reflect: ‘Application unsuccessful.’
