NSFAS funding is unsustainable
‘Universities bring significant benefits to a country, because having educated people drives the economy. But the benefits go far beyond this to include the strong relationship between an educated critical citizenry and democratic stability. Universities are subsidised by the state because they are meant to be a public good,’ says Professor Sioux McKenna, director of the Centre for Postgraduate Studies at Rhodes University.
She notes the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) cost about R5bn in 2015, jumped to R31bn in 2021, and next year it will sit at around R42bn.
'This means that more money goes to this social grant than to the block grant that funds universities,’ she says, adding the long-term consequences of budget cuts will include the inevitable freezing of posts and neglect of infrastructure.
In her opinion piece on the Daily Maverick site, McKenna says the NSFAS cost increase is ‘entirely unsustainable’.
‘And if this grant gives students access to poorly staffed and run-down institutions, it is hardly money well spent.’
NSFAS, says McKenna, is an obvious good. It provides fees, accommodation, books, and meals for students who could not access university without it.
‘But this grant has been funded from within the Treasury’s allocation to higher education – and thus depleted the resources for the sector as a whole.’
While she accepts some part of NSFAS funding returns to universities in the form of fees, much of it is a social grant to students to cover their living costs.
‘That this grant greatly exceeds the Sassa SRD grant and other social grants provided by the state means that many students support their whole family on their NSFAS funding.’
McKenna notes that to add to these spiralling costs, the Minister continues to speak about building two brand-new universities.
‘The policy incoherence is matched only by the financial unfeasibility. With 2024 being an election year, perhaps the sustainability of NSFAS and the funding of new universities is of little concern compared to the garnering of votes.’
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