South Africa: Students Out in the Cold As Nsfas Faces R10.6bn Budget Shortfall for Universities

27 August 2025
Daily Maverick (Johannesburg)
By Siyabonga Goni

The National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) has revealed it has a R10.6bn budget shortfall for universities in the 2025 academic year.

The funding crisis at the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) for the 2025 academic year has resulted in some students being unable to register for the second semester and has left students whose registration data was received after the 31 March cut-off date in financial limbo.

According to the NSFAS CEO, Waseem Carrim, and the chairperson of the board, Karen Stander, who briefed the media in Pretoria on Wednesday, 27 August, the scheme is facing major issues.

"NSFAS faces quite a significant budget shortfall for the 2025 academic year. We have a R39-billion allocation for the university sector, and we have disbursed almost 73% of that, which is approximately R29-billion, but we do face a budget shortfall of about R10.6-billion," said Carrim.

Stander said that this was due to an increase in the number of students qualifying for higher education, the ongoing cost-of-living crisis, which had expanded household eligibility for NSFAS support, and declining state resources in real terms.

In the TVET sector, colleges have a budget allocation of R9.12-billion, and the NSFAS has disbursed more than...

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