NSFAS Bursary for 70-Year-Old Sparks Debate on Resource Allocation
Johannesburg – The National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) has come under scrutiny after it was revealed that a 70-year-old is among its beneficiaries. The revelation has ignited a debate about the allocation of scarce national resources, particularly in a country where many young people struggle to access higher education.
Waseem Carrim, the acting CEO of NSFAS, informed Parliament last Wednesday that the scheme does not discriminate based on age. "Sometimes people think that NSFAS is just a youth programme, you can be any age to apply for NSFAS," Carrim stated, confirming that a 70-year-old individual is currently receiving funding.
This disclosure has drawn criticism from Professor Nadine Petersen of the University of Johannesburg (UJ). "This, for me, is a waste of national resources for young people who have their dreams destroyed through funding that has gone to someone who will not be able to contribute meaningfully to economic growth and development," Petersen argued. She questioned the return on investment of a NSFAS bursary awarded to someone "who will complete a degree by the time they are ready for retirement".
While Professor Petersen appreciates the commitment of older people to lifelong learning, she finds these cases "puzzling". "While a whole argument can be made for allowing previously disadvantaged people to access funding for studies that may have been denied them in their youth, I am not in favour of providing scarce resources to a 70-year-old," she said. "We owe our young school leavers the opportunity for funding to enable their development and for them to contribute thereafter to building the country."
Professor Vimolan Mudaly from the University of KwaZulu-Natal offered a different perspective, stating that a student bursary should support anyone who has the desire to enhance their qualifications. "The condition that must be imposed, though, is that they return at least a part of the bursary when they begin their work careers," Mudaly said. "At 70, this would be a rather tall order, but it is an exception to the norm, and I am quite pleased that someone, at that age, chose to study."
Carrim told News24 that there were 1,047 students above the age of 50 who were recipients of the bursary in 2025. "NSFAS, while primarily being a youth development programme, acknowledges and celebrates students over the age of 50 who are bursary recipients," he said. "NSFAS recognises South Africa’s painful history where many people were, because of race-based laws, systematically prevented from accessing and attaining education. If it can play any part in remedying historical injustices, it embraces this responsibility."
The debate comes amid revelations that a total of 612 people aged 50 and older applied for NSFAS funding for 2026. In contrast, 429,823 first-time entering applications were received from students under the age of 20, while 417,077 were from those in their twenties, and 41,811 from applicants in their thirties.
Carrim also highlighted concerns about gender equality within the application statistics, noting that 66% of applicants were female, while only 34% were male. "There needs to be considered research as to why this is the case. Young boys seem to be left behind in higher education programmes," he said.
Another issue raised by Carrim was the overwhelming preference for university studies among applicants. He stated that 95% of applications for financial aid came from prospective students wanting to pursue university degrees. "Students still see university as the primary objective of pursuing higher education in South Africa," Carrim said. "More needs to be done to encourage young people to apply for TVET (technical and vocational education and training) colleges to see the value and the benefit of obtaining a qualification from TVET colleges." He added that the application statistics suggest "young people still seeing TVET colleges as a second-class degree".
Meanwhile, NSFAS is also addressing the issue of student accommodation costs. Carrim announced that NSFAS would ban top-ups, deposits, and institutions charging above the NSFAS cap for student accommodation. For 2026, NSFAS capped the amount it paid to universities and private accommodation providers for student accommodation at R52,000 per bed for the year.
Carrim said the practice of accommodation providers charging more than the NSFAS capped amount "needs to be eradicated". "While it may be legally correct to be able to charge a student an additional amount, there are serious ethical and moral issues with students who are meant to be on a bursary scheme graduating with large amounts of debt that ultimately impact them not being able to obtain a graduation certificate and entering the labour market burdened by debt," he explained. "Yes, in some instances students may have agreed to that, but I have serious doubts about the morality and ethics of asking an 18-year-old and a 19-year-old to sign a document that will result in them accumulating that amount of debt."
Several universities have responded to Carrim's comments. North-West University (NWU) spokesperson Louis Jacobs said it would be problematic if the capped amount was below the average cost for NSFAS students to stay in campus residences, as the university still needed to recover costs. University of Cape Town (UCT) spokesperson Elijah Moholola stated that the institution did not charge any so-called "top-ups" or deposits for accommodation for NSFAS-funded students. Nelson Mandela University spokesperson Zandile Ngwendu said the institution had aligned its undergraduate residence fees with the NSFAS accommodation cap to ensure that NSFAS-funded students did not incur additional debt. University of the Western Cape (UWC) spokesperson Gasant Abarder stated that the university had never charged students for accommodation that exceeded the NSFAS-capped amount.
Stellenbosch University (SU) said that the challenge of NSFAS-funded students accumulating debt was a systemic issue that did not originate at universities. "The NSFAS model, including the current accommodation cap, has, for some time, not kept pace with real costs in the higher education sector," SU stated. "As such, NSFAS is not a sustainable scheme, and fundamental rethinking needs to be undertaken as a matter of urgency."
Carrim said that on the issue of student accommodation, NSFAS has come across “disturbing instances where students are being coerced into signing lease agreements which include top-ups and deposits”. “NSFAS is a bursary programme and students should not accumulate debt in the progression of their studies. NSFAS has a duty to protect its beneficiaries from exploitation.”
The debate surrounding the 70-year-old NSFAS recipient and the broader issues of funding allocation and student accommodation highlight the complex challenges facing higher education in South Africa.
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