Abstract:
Amongst the first of the challenges facing prospective first-year university students is the need to procure
funding for their studies. Indeed, demand for funding for students to access higher education far exceeds
supply in South Africa. One solution has been the creation of a government loan scheme, the National
Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS), but this scheme does not cover all students. Outside of
NSFAS, student bursary funding remains limited and universities are being increasingly pressurised to
allocate bursaries to ensure students are not excluded due to funding constraints. Despite this, to date,
little work has been undertaken regarding university policy and management of bursary applications
and funds. Thus this study represents an attempt to fill this gap. The study explores the current student
funding model deployed at one particular large tertiary institution as a means to gain an understanding
of current funding challenges and attempt to find ways in which funding decisions can be improved. A
qualitative approach was used, which involved conducting in-depth interviews with senior university
staff involved in a range of student support directorates. The study demonstrates the complexity of the
challenges associated with student funding.
