NSFAS applications have been challenging to submit, appeal, and track for students. Students are frustrated with further delays, but the organization claims there are several possible reasons.
Is Your NSFAS Application Or Appeal Status Stuck?
The National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) is the largest government-funded bursary program in the country. Over one million disadvantaged students apply to the organization each year. The large number of applications often causes delays and system difficulties for students trying to track their applications.
A student who has had their NSFAS application declined can appeal the decision. The status of applications and appeals appears to be stuck on one stage for a long time, making it difficult for students to track their progress.
Andile Nongogo, CEO of NSFAS, gave some insight into what could be causing the problem in an interview with PowerFM on Monday afternoon.
Here’s why your NSFAS application is stuck
Your application may be stuck in a particular stage because it involves multiple steps that need to be completed before it can proceed. In the coming years, NSFAS plans to improve this tracker so that students can see the status of their applications or appeals at every stage.
Applications and appeals are also commonly delayed because students do not upload the required supporting documents or they do not upload the correct supporting documents. Most students will submit a random document to move onto the next stage of the appeal application, but NSFAS cannot proceed with your application if the correct documents are not uploaded.
In response to students claiming that schools won’t let them register due to “provisionally funded” status, Nongogo states that provisionally funded means the student is funded, NSFAS is just awaiting registration information from the school. In order to make this term more accessible to students and higher education institutions, NSFAS is working on changing it.
Finally NSFAS Appeals Update
NSFAS will also improve the appeal decision process to avoid delays in the future. There will be more people working on responding to direct messages and emails on NSFAS’ social media platforms as well as providing 24/7 answers to queries. As a result, students won’t have to wait as long to hear from the financial aid scheme.
NSFAS is still processing thousands of appeals for the 2023 academic year. According to Nongogo, the organization responded to 20,000 appeal applications from students affected by academic progression criteria over the weekend.This date has once again been moved to the end of the month, despite NSFAS stating last week that appeal decisions would be finalized.
