Can SASSA Grant Recipients Qualify for NSFAS Funding?

Education has potential to reduce poverty and financial hardships if properly accessible for the students. In South Africa, there are two different government financial aid programs that help needy citizens in finance including SASSA and NSFAS, as both support the individuals who are facing economic hardships and the students who are from the underprivileged backgrounds. As a SASSA beneficiary holding a social grant, you’re wondering about “Can SASSA Grant Recipients Qualify for NSFAS Funding?”. In this article we have provided an answer to this raising question and the eligibility criteria to apply for the NSFAS grant. Understand the interaction of these two systems and how they affect your future in this article. Let’s dive deeper and delve into the question to make your gestures confirmed and make you’re continuously checking your SASSA status for updated criteria or other requirements.

Both SASSA and NSFAS aimed to provide financial assistance to the needy but each has its own set of requirements and a strong eligibility criteria. SASSA is a social security agency that helps millions of South Africans by providing different social grants from Child support to Old age while NSFAS is a financially educational assistance program that supports students in terms of bursaries who are from the low income family backgrounds. Now, understanding whether SASSA grant recipients qualify for NSFAS funding or not is crucial. If you are SASSA beneficiaries and wondering if you’re directly eligible for the NSFAS is not true, this is completely a misconception. 

Yes, it’s true that SASSA recipients qualify for NSFAS funding but under certain eligibility criteria. You can access both funds at the right time but there’s no connection between automatic qualifying for NSFAS if you’re a SASSA recipient. NSFAS has a criteria that also requires SASSA grant proof to be eligible for receiving the funding for higher education that covers the tuition fees, accommodation and other expenses.

What’s Actually NSFAS

NSFAS is a financial aid program that supports millions of students across South Africa who can’t afford to get higher studies at Universities and TVET colleges. As a SASSA beneficiary, you can’t be automatically eligible to receive the NSFAS finding but you have to go through a complete application process and eligibility criteria. Both the programs SASSA and NSFAS have different criterias, but you can solely apply for NSFAS funding with the application submission while receiving the SASSA grants.

As a recipient of SASSA, if you’re going to apply for NSFAS funding you must be aware of its eligibility criteria before starting the application process. NSFAS considers various factors when determining eligibility and these factors may include the nationality, age, income and other factors. Let’s discover the NSFAS eligibility criteria below.

1. Applicants should be from households with an income of R350,000 or less.
2. Must be a South African citizen or a permanent resident.
3. Previously registered at a higher public University or TVET college.
4. Must be eligible in terms of academic criteria. Should be 12th grade passed or equivalent.
5. Applicants should be of age 56 for undergraduate studies and under 60 years for postgraduate studies.
6. You must be approved by the NSFAS for receiving the funding.

Discover the features of user friendly platform in this article SASSA Service Portal.

FAQs

Is the eligibility criteria of NSFAS different from SASSA?

Yes, eligibility criteria may differ from the SASSA.

Is providing SASSA grant proof during the submission of an NSFAS application necessary?

Yes, providing SASSA grant proof during the submission of an NSFAS application is necessary.

Is there any threshold for NSFAS applicants to be eligible?

Yes, there’s a minimum of R350,000 threshold for NSFAS applicants to be eligible.