No funding for thousands of students

More than 100 000 eligible students could be excluded from funding by the National Students Financial Aid Scheme (Nsfas), which is facing a serious budgetary constraint.

- Eric Mthobeli Naki

The situation is so dire that the SA Union of Students (Saus) is calling for government intervention to save the educational future of poor students who rely on state funding to sustain their education.

Nsfas is pinning its hopes on National Treasury's medium-term budget to close the gap.

The situation was laid bare during a briefing by Nsfas leadership, which warned that the 2026 university budget faced severe constraints, with only about 520 000 students qualifying for funding, while about 100 000 eligible students could be excluded.