In order to pursue higher education, children from South African low-income households will need financial aid, which the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) is prepared to offer. As a loan provider, NSFAS will be setting the student grant from August 2025 to R5,200, which should cover the student’s minimum needs. In this article, I will elaborate on the detailed criteria and process to claim the grant, along with the best practices to achieve the timely retrieval of the grant.
Eligibility Verification
For your NSFAS R5,200 allowance due in August 2025, there are specific requirements that need to be met. You need to be a South African citizen studying at a public university or a TVET college. The assistance is intended for students whose families collectively earn less than R350,000 annually. In addition to the financial criteria, students must also fulfill the academic criteria of their institutions. Additionally, there is support for students with disabilities, and also for those students who began studying prior to 2018 from families with an income of R122,000 or less. We recommend that you confirm your funding eligibility on the NSFAS portal.
Confirming and Claiming the Yes Award
To claim your R5,200 allowance, you will have to make sure all your information on the myNSFAS portal is up to date. This allowance will be issued to verified students on the 19th of August, 2025. NSFAS will then issue payment to the students’ bank accounts or institutional disbursement systems. Students are required to make sure they verify their bank details on their myNSFAS accounts and that the accounts are compliant, meaning the accounts are active and in the students’ names. To prevent inconvenience to the students, the institution is required to submit academic records which consist of proof of registration and proof of attendance. Students who have not received the allowance by 21 August 2025 should get in touch with the financial aid office at their institution or call the NSFAS helpline.
Avoiding Common Issues
The two issues that are commonly encountered are an error in the banking details or a missing academic record. A student should look out for and ask for any updates on the NSFAS portal. They should also ensure that all required documents such as proof of income, registration, and others should be completed and submitted to them. Be wary of fraudulent activities and contact only the official channels of NSFAS. If there are any delays in the procedures that are blocking the allowance, the student can resolve the issue with the help of NSFAS support or the NSFAS WhatsApp app. Working with NSFAS and campus officials beforehand can eliminate such delays.
Planning the Allowance
The R5,200 stipend is intended to finance accommodation, meals, transport, and study materials. All these items are necessary, and students should aim to budget for all of them to handle the money wisely. Financial literacy is a critical skill and the universities’ training will help students optimise the stipend. Students’ discounts on textbooks and transport should be looked into. This will ensure economic balance for the entire semester.