University of Zululand NSFAS Loans And Bursaries

Financial Aid Office (FAO) is responsible for the administration of NSFAS Loans and NSFAS Bursary’s. The FAO administers the above funding according to the NSFAS Guidelines.

First Year students

NSFAS does not make a specific budget allocation for first year students and they must register with their own funds. The NSFAS Committee sets aside a certain amount of the available funding depending on the budget every year to assist needy and academically deserving students. Students are advised during the orientation week about the NSFAS Funding and the terms & conditions of the funding. They are given an overview of the NSFAS Terms & Conditions and the application process. Students are advised that the medium of communication is mainly through notice boards and sms’s and therefore they must always read the Notices that are placed on the Notice Boards at the various strategic places. We have an open door policy where students can come to the FAO during the stipulated consultation times for information and advice.

Senior Students

Senior students apply for NSFAS in the current year (Sept/Oct)  for funding for the following year. Students need to qualify in terms of the Means Test and Academic performance i.e. to pass a minimum of 50% of modules registered in the previous year. The amount allocated per student is based on the number of students qualifying and the budget available for distribution from the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET).

NSFAS Application Process

Students will be advised via notice boards of the dates and deadlines for collection and submission of NSFAS loan application forms and the procedures to be followed. Documents regarding the household income, composition of the family members, ID documents, affidavits, etc are submitted with the NSFAS application in order for the student to be Means Tested to determine neediness.

Thereafter follows the process of collection and submission of the contracts (PAQ’s & LAF’s) signed by the students. The contract is an agreement entered into and signed both by NSFAS and the student whereby the student undertakes to repay the NSFAS Loans with Interest when he/she starts employment. The interest rate is a very low rate as determined by the Minister of Education or Government and may vary from year to year. Financial Aid Officers are responsible for collecting the signed contracts and forwarding to NSFAS for payments. Once funds are received form NSFAS, it is credited to the student accounts.

PRIVATE BURSARIES PROCESS

Financial Aid Office administers approximately 300 active private sponsorships, ranging from Government Departments, NGO’s, Trusts, Seta’s and Private Organizations.

The process that is followed in administering Private Bursaries varies from sponsor to sponsor e.g. some organizations do their advertising, selection and awarding of bursaries without involvement of the institution, while others involve the institution in their selection and awarding processes or involve the institution in inviting applications and not involving the Institution in the selection and awarding of bursaries.

Sponsorships vary in organizations from minimum initial payment for registration only, to partial sponsorships, e.g. tuition and books and or full cost sponsorships.

Financial Aid Office accepts confirmations of sponsorships provided the sponsor organizations are financially sound and are registered on our data base. Sponsors are furnished, immediately after registration, with student statement of account, proof of registration and invoices for immediate payment. The sponsorship can vary i.e. payment on statements, others split their payments per semester and some choose to pay for the full academic year.

Student statement of results are forwarded to sponsors bi-annually, i.e. mid-year and end of the year whilst the final student account statements are forwarded to sponsors at the end of the third term for payment.