South Africa’s National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) has approved funding for more than 660,000 students for the 2026 academic year, following an intense nationwide effort to clear application backlogs.
NSFAS said its teams worked around the clock to process over 180,000 resubmitted documents, resulting in 50,000 additional approvals before the close of the registration cycle. Despite the progress, thousands of students remain in limbo, with 21,483 applications stalled due to outstanding documents and 85,662 still undergoing verification.
The scheme urged applicants to upload clear and accurate documents, warning that blurry or incorrect submissions continue to delay processing.
Among continuing university students, 436,924 met the academic progression requirements, while 109,761 failed to qualify. Another 4,945 students are still awaiting results, largely due to supplementary examinations. NSFAS has called on higher institutions to urgently upload outstanding results to prevent further delays.
Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) colleges are also feeling the impact. Out of 210,989 continuing TVET students, 127,503 met academic requirements, while 79,461 did not. NSFAS said results submitted from mid-January are being processed within seven days.
Accommodation remains one of the most contentious issues. NSFAS received 194,071 accommodation applications, but only 55,653 have been approved so far. The scheme warned accommodation providers against housing students without confirmed funding or unfairly relocating them, stressing that it will enforce a zero-tolerance policy.
On funding disbursements, NSFAS confirmed that R3.6 billion has already been paid to universities for student allowances, while R679 million was paid to TVET colleges for tuition. Due to extended registrations, TVET student allowances will now be paid on 13 and 27 February 2026.
As the academic year unfolds, NSFAS has advised students to closely monitor their application and appeal statuses to avoid missing critical updates.
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