SA universities are expecting a drop in funding from companies, donors and sponsors to “missing middle” students because of the economic impact of Covid-19.
“Missing middle” students refer to those who don’t qualify for a bursary from the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) because their total household income is less than R600,000 a year.
Students qualify for NSFAS funding if their annual household income is R350,000 or less.
Government allocated R23.2bn to NSFAS in 2019 and R28bn in 2020.
Lacea Loader, spokesperson for the University of the Free State (UFS), confirmed it was expecting a decline of between 10% to 15% in financial aid to struggling students.
Between 12,000 and 13,000 students at UFS last year were from the “missing middle” category.
She said more than 6,300 students received financial assistance from private companies, donors and sponsors last year and that the university had assisted a further 4,200 students.
The UFS increased its bursary allocation for 2021 by 15%, specifically towards assistance resulting from Covid-19.
— UFS spokesperson Lacea Loader
“The UFS increased its bursary allocation for 2021 by 15%, specifically towards assistance resulting from Covid-19.” She said the university has deep understanding for the tremendous challenges students face in getting funding for their studies.
“This is why the institution also assists students with historic debt to register provisionally. Students pay a much-reduced first payment and have an additional three months to secure funding for the academic year.”
She said through this approach 2,800 returning students were able to obtain funding in 2020. The University of Johannesburg (UJ) said companies, sponsors and donors assisted 2,701 students with bursaries last year.
Last year, 3,801 students fell into the “missing middle” category.
UJ spokesperson Herman Esterhuizen said they anticipated a reduction in bursary donations for this year and have set aside R20m to assist 5,000 students who qualify for financial aid.
North West University said sponsors normally fund previously disadvantaged students or specific study fields and programmes.
“More private companies inquire about assisting students, but only for a small number of students. External bursaries in general are slowing down, most probably as a result of the impact of Covid-19.” He said R211m from university funding and R347m from external funding was paid as bursaries for students last year.
The university has set aside about R20m in bursaries to support about 400 students in financial need. Last year the university provided R12m to support students financially.
— UP spokesperson Rikus Delport
University of Pretoria spokesperson Rikus Delport said the number of students in need of financial support is likely to increase this year because of the pandemic.
“The university has set aside about R20m in bursaries to support about 400 students in financial need. Last year the university provided R12m to support students financially.”
University of Cape Town (UCT) spokesperson Elijah Moholola said 477 “missing middle” students were funded through the university’s financial assistance programme, GAP, last year.
“This is not representative of the total number of missing middle students at UCT, some who may be self-funded or on bursaries and scholarships.”
Last year, UCT provided and facilitated R1.4bn in funding for undergraduates and postgraduates itself, as well as through NSFAS, corporates and donations.
He said the council has approved more than R230m in financial assistance for undergraduate and postgraduate students this year.
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