Universities South Africa (Usaf) revealed that student debt had increased to R16.5 billion from R14 billion at the end of 2019. This issue hangs over the head of the Higher Education department, as it makes it difficult for universities to be sustainable. On the other hand, the missing-middle students are negatively impacted, but the department says it has plans in the pipeline to help address this issue.
At the beginning of the 2023 academic year, there were reports of protests in institutions of higher learning across the country. These protests were due to students being financially excluded and some voicing their concerns in relation to the then-implemented mandatory vaccination policies.
Nicole Ludolph is among university graduates that are still paying for their fees, as she never had funding throughout her academic years. Some students have explored the option of crowdfunding to help clear their student debt.
In a statement, Feenix Trustee, Nomvula Dlamini shared:
Two thousand and forty nine (2049) students’ lives have been changed through donations made through this crowdfunding platform, with R71,2 million raised since our founding in 2017.
Linda Meyer, director for operations and sector support at Universities South Africa told the parliamentary portfolio committee on higher education, science, and technology that the student debt issue is complex but that it needs to be addressed in order to make universities financially sustainable.
The sustainability of these institutions also relies on tuition fees, hence, Usaf had proposed tuition and student residence fee hikes at the beginning of the year.
However, Meyer has warned that universities won’t be able to resolve such issues on their own alone.
The cohort of students that have been greatly affected are the missing-middle students, as they don’t qualify for government funding.
“When I applied for Nsfas in 2006, I didn’t qualify because my mom’s salary was too high, but she wasn’t a rich lady,” shared Ludolph.
Blade Nzimande, Minister of the Department of Higher Education, Science and Innovation has revealed that the department is working on a new funding model to support university and college students who fall under this bracket.
According to Higher Education, both the public and private components of the financial sector will aid in coming up with this funding model, which will also cater to post-graduate students who cannot secure funding from the National Research Foundation.
Nzimande also said developing a policy framework is on the cards for the regulation of university fees to ensure that fees are kept at affordable levels for all families that need assistance.
However, without substantial additional funding available in the sector, student debt will continue to be a problem.