Question NW831 to the Minister of Higher Education and Training

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20 April 2016 - NW831

Profile picture: Bozzoli, Prof B

Bozzoli, Prof B to ask the Minister of Higher Education and Training

(1)(a) How many students have been funded through the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) in each financial year since its inception, (b) what is the detailed breakdown in terms of how many of the specified students were at (i) universities, (ii) technical colleges and (iii) any other higher education institutions and (c) how many students funded by NSFAS (i) were studying, (ii) graduated and (iii) dropped out in the specified financial years; (2) of the specified students who dropped out while receiving funding from NSFAS, what amount (a) was spent by NSFAS to fund these students, (b) has been paid back to NSFAS by the relevant students, (c) is still owed to NSFAS, and (d) has been written off by NSFAS?

Reply:

1 (a) The National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) has funded 1 700 533, students in public universities, Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) colleges and other institutional types as required by various funders that have partnered with NSFAS. In 2007, the NSFAS legislative mandate was expanded to include the responsibility for granting and administering bursaries to students at public Technical and Vocational Education and Training (former Further Education and Training) colleges. From 1991 to 1995, through the then TEFSA and Kagiso Trust, funds were provided to private institutions and from 2004, NSFAS paid other public institutions such as the National Institute of Education: Mpumalanga and Northern Cape, which have since been disestablished on 7 November 2014.

(b) A breakdown per year is provided below.

Year

  1. Universities
  1. TVET Colleges
  1. Other Institutional Types

1991

7 240

 

1

1992

14 160

 

11

1993

20 811

 

82

1994

28 260

 

28

1995

43 876

 

10

1996

72 788

   

1997

70 574

   

1998

75 764

   

1999

75 344

   

2000

83 251

   

2001

80 603

   

2002

86 147

   

2003

96 552

   

2004

98 813

 

74

2005

106 852

 

78

2006

108 416

 

119

2007

113 616

12 283

509

2008

117 766

35 353

678

2009

135 202

55 174

664

2010

148 387

61 706

498

2011

144 757

114 971

341

2012

194 504

188 182

428

2013

194 923

220 978

464

2014

186 150

228 642

10

2015

173 885

(still to be audited)

235 446

(still to be audited)

-

(c) NSFAS does not hold a complete data set on dropouts, and is currently augmenting this data from data sources such as the Higher Education Management Information System (HEMIS). NSFAS, in collaboration with the Department, is currently in the process of conducting a full cohort study looking at cohorts of students from 2005 through to 2014. It is expected that the results from this study will be finalised by the end of June 2016.

Stellenbosch University conducted a cohort study for NSFAS in 2012, which revealed that 34% of the first-time entering student cohort for the 2000 academic year had qualified, 29% were still studying and 37% had dropped out. After a full nine years, 55% of this same cohort had qualified, 6% was still studying and 38% had dropped out.

This study goes on to conclude that non-funded students have a slightly higher drop-out and lower qualification rate, with 48% having completed their qualification, 6% still studying and 46% having dropped out. These figures are consistent with figures released annually by the Council on Higher Education, which includes both NSFAS funded and non-funded students.

2 (a)–(c) In respect to students who received NSFAS loans while studying and dropped out without completing their undergraduate degrees, NSFAS has 247 913 active debtor students. These students have repaid R1.8 billion with an outstanding debt of R4.7 billion.

2 (d) NSFAS only writes off debts for students that are deceased, as confirmed through the Department of Home Affairs.

 

COMPILER/CONTACT PERSONS:

EXT:

DIRECTOR – GENERAL

STATUS:

DATE:

QUESTION 831 APPROVED/NOT APPROVED/AMENDED

Dr BE NZIMANDE, MP

MINISTER OF HIGHER EDUCATION AND TRAINING

STATUS:

DATE:

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