The National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) is set to fund 49,000 students who are affected by a funding deficit in the 2025 academic year, Higher Education and Training Minister Buti Manamela announced last week. NSFAS and the Department of Higher Education and Training have reprioritised R13.3 billion within their existing budgets to make this possible. This extra funding will “support 34,000 students with blocked registrations and second semester registrations of 15,000 students,” Manamela said. A further 527,000 are in technical and vocational education and training (TVET) colleges and 130,000 in community education and training (CET) colleges. Applications for NSFAS funding for the 2026 academic year are now open!