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Bursaries beyond NSFAS

Written by Mohapi · Last updated · How these figures are checked

There is a real gap between households that earn too much for NSFAS and households that can actually pay fees. If you are in it, this page is the list of what else exists.

Two things worth saying at the start. Most of these are not free money. They are agreements, usually with a work obligation attached, and the obligation is enforceable. And most of them are under-applied for, which means your odds are considerably better than they feel.

Funza Lushaka, if you are going into teaching

This is the largest and best-defined route on the page, and the one with the most misunderstood conditions.

You must apply to a university first

Applications are made online at funzalushaka.doe.gov.za, but only once you already have a valid student number and have been accepted or provisionally accepted at your university of choice.

So the order is: apply to the university, get accepted, then apply for Funza Lushaka. People who wait for funding before applying to study have the sequence backwards and lose the year.

After applying, print the confirmation and submit a copy to the university that accepted you.

It only funds priority subjects

The bursary is awarded only if one of the priority area specialisation subjects is included in your studies. It is not a general teaching bursary.

Funza Lushaka priority specialisations by phase
PhaseWhat is required
Foundation Phase (Grades R–3) Foundation Phase specialisation
Intermediate and Senior Phase (Grades 4–9) A teaching major in one of: African Languages, English Language, Mathematics, Natural Science, or Technology

Source: Funza Lushaka Bursary Programme

If you want to teach History or Geography or Life Sciences at senior level, check the current specialisation list carefully before assuming you are covered. The list reflects where the country is short of teachers, and it is revised.

The two conditions that catch people

1. You cannot choose where you teach. Provincial education departments place graduates in schools where they are needed. Bursars cannot choose the school they would like to teach at, nor apply directly to a school. If staying in your home town is non-negotiable for you, this is the wrong bursary.

2. It becomes repayable if you do not teach. You must serve one year of teaching for every year of bursary. The bursary must be repaid if you fail to qualify, fail to apply for a teaching post with a provincial department, fail to take up a post, or leave before the end of the contracted service period.

So a three-year bursary is three years of teaching, wherever you are placed. That is a genuinely good deal if you want to teach. It is a debt with a job attached if you do not.

SETA bursaries

There are Sector Education and Training Authorities covering most industries: banking and finance, manufacturing, health and welfare, agriculture, energy, transport, and others. Many fund students in fields their sector needs.

These are worth pursuing because they are specific enough that the applicant pool is small. The trick is knowing which SETA covers your field, which is not always obvious. Search for the SETA name plus your discipline, and look at the SETA's own site rather than aggregator sites.

Terms vary widely. Some are straight bursaries, some carry a work-back obligation, some include workplace experience, which is worth more than it sounds, because a qualification plus experience is a materially stronger position than a qualification alone.

Corporate bursaries

Large employers run bursary schemes, most commonly in engineering, accounting, actuarial science, IT, mining, and health sciences.

What to expect:

Apply to several. The selection is competitive and often includes interviews or assessments, and applying to one is close to a lottery ticket.

The ones people forget

Institutional bursaries and scholarships

The university itself almost certainly has funds: merit awards, need-based bursaries, sports and music awards, faculty-specific funds, and money left in trusts for oddly specific purposes. These are routinely under-applied for, because students assume NSFAS is the only option. Ask the financial aid office directly what exists and what the criteria are. It is a phone call.

Employer study assistance

If you work, or a parent works, somewhere with more than a handful of staff, there may be a study assistance policy. Many go unused because nobody asks HR. Costs nothing to check.

Provincial and municipal bursaries

Provincial departments and some municipalities fund students from their area, often in fields they need: health, engineering, agriculture. Usually with a service obligation back to that province or municipality.

Professional bodies and trusts

Accounting, engineering and legal professional bodies run funds, as do a large number of small private trusts. Small trusts in particular receive very few applications.

How to actually go about it

  1. Apply to institutions first. Several bursaries, Funza Lushaka included, require an existing student number and an offer before you can even apply.
  2. Apply for NSFAS anyway, unless you are certain you are over the threshold. It costs nothing and being wrong about your eligibility is expensive.
  3. Make a list with deadlines, because they are scattered across the year and many fall before matric results.
  4. Apply for many. The realistic hit rate is low and the cost per application is an hour of your time.
  5. Read the obligation before signing. How many years of service? Where? What happens if you fail a year, change course, or leave early?
  6. Keep copies of everything.

Two warnings

Nobody legitimate charges you to apply for a bursary, or to "find bursaries for you". Bursary-matching services that ask for payment are selling you a list you could assemble yourself.

Check the institution is accredited before accepting funding to study there. A bursary to a college that is not registered is not a solution. See how to check a college is accredited.

Where to next