#Info - expanding access to student aid; legislative pathways for inclusive higher education

The higher education system faces significant challenges in providing equitable access to financial aid for foreign nationals. Despite constitutional guarantees for education rights and the growing presence of international students; existing policies, legislative acts and immigration regulations limit their eligibility for funding. This article explores legislative reforms and innovative strategies to address these barriers, ensuring inclusivity, enhancing sector capacity, and bridging the financial gap for foreign students.

To legislatively enable foreign nationals' eligibility for student aid, key legal reforms would be required:

1. Amend the NSFAS Act

The National Student Financial Aid Scheme Act 56 of 1999 currently restricts eligibility to South African citizens and permanent residents. A legislative amendment would need to remove citizenship requirements or establish parallel funding streams for foreign nationals.

2. Broaden Constitutional Interpretation

While Section 29(1)(a) of the Constitution guarantees education rights to "everyone," current policy implementation limits NSFAS to citizens. Legislative clarity could explicitly include non-citizens under "reasonable measures" for progressive access to tertiary education.

3. Create Targeted Funding Mechanisms

New legislation could:

• Mandate quotas

Strict funding continuance criteria based on completing modules enrolled in current academic year

Would be advisable to eliminate the funding cap restricted to undergraduate programs to enable broader support for advanced and postgraduate studies, thereby fostering higher levels of expertise and innovation within the sector

4. Address Regulatory Barriers

Current Immigration Act requirements force foreign students to pay 75% fees upfront. Complementary amendments could eliminate this for aid recipients while maintaining financial safeguards.

6. Funding capacity

To address the problem of shortfall in funding supply - one option would be; to direct the funds from unclaimed pensions to the national student financial aid scheme.

Responsible for monitoring the funds that are bound by the Pension Funds Act, the FSCA has noted that despite the fact that more than R22.93bn has already been paid out to 647,528 beneficiaries that were identified  between 2014 and 2018, there was still more than R42.83bn in unclaimed pension benefits in 2018. That number has risen since 2019 as highlighted by data released after Covid-19 delays. 

Furthermore, according to its 2019 annual report the Government Employee Pension Fund (GEPF) has an additional R1.73bn in unclaimed pension funds. That’s a lot of unclaimed money.

7. Streamline admission criteria to essential standards

Establish universal eligibility criteria for admissions, with enrollment management mechanisms to accommodate all qualified applicants within resource constraints.

8. The student financial aid scheme should adopt an inclusive funding model that supports both private and public tertiary institutions, fostering a competitive, high-quality education sector while ensuring equitable access for all eligible students; most notably increasing supply capacity to the sector.

9. Implement a comprehensive digital equity initiative to provide all students with standardized learning tools—including laptops, smartphones, and essential equipment—through a public-private partnership model. This program will bridge the digital divide and enhance workforce readiness while maintaining fiscal responsibility through phased implementation and outcome-based accountability measures.

Administrative systems: the consideration of needed new verification processes for international applicants

Precedents for Reform

The Policy Framework for Internationalisation of Higher Education (2017) already encourages credit transfers and mobility, providing a foundation for expanded financial support mechanisms. Legislative action could operationalize these goals through specific funding provisions.