Prospective Unisa students frequently want a straight answer on which specific courses NSFAS will pay for before they commit to an application. The reality is that NSFAS does not approve funding course by course. It funds a category of qualification, and any course that falls within an approved category at Unisa is eligible, provided the … Read more

Many graduates who want to move into teaching ask whether NSFAS will pay for the Postgraduate Certificate in Education at Unisa. The direct answer is no. NSFAS does not fund the PGCE at Unisa under its standard bursary scheme, because the PGCE is a postgraduate qualification, and NSFAS funding is reserved almost entirely for first … Read more

Students who want to enter law enforcement through the University of South Africa often ask one question before they apply: will NSFAS pay for the Diploma in Policing at Unisa. The short answer is yes. NSFAS funds the Diploma in Policing at Unisa because Unisa is a public university and the qualification is an approved … Read more

The answer depends entirely on what is actually meant by “bridging course,” since this term gets used loosely to describe two genuinely different things at UNISA, and only one of them is fundable by NSFAS. A formal Higher Certificate, which functions as an accredited access qualification into a diploma or degree, is generally fundable by … Read more

Yes, NSFAS funds distance learning at UNISA, in exactly the same way it funds study at any other public university in South Africa. UNISA’s distance learning model, formally known as Open Distance e-Learning, does not disqualify a student from NSFAS funding on its own. What matters for eligibility is the same set of standard NSFAS … Read more

NSFAS does not fund short courses at UNISA. This applies to every Short Learning Programme UNISA offers, regardless of the subject, price, or how directly the course relates to a student’s career goals. NSFAS funding is built entirely around formal, credit-bearing undergraduate qualifications, and a short course, by definition, sits outside that category. This article … Read more

The Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) at UNISA is the qualification for someone who already holds a relevant bachelor’s degree and wants to become a registered school teacher without completing a full Bachelor of Education degree from scratch. UNISA now offers this qualification as a set of subject-specific streams under a single qualification code, each … Read more

UNISA students funded by NSFAS do not receive a standard living allowance in the same sense that students at contact universities do. Instead, they receive what NSFAS calls a Personal Care Allowance, generally set at approximately R304 to R316 per month, paid over the qualifying months of the academic year to students registered for a … Read more

Yes, UNISA offers hospitality-related study, but not through a single qualification simply labelled “hospitality management” in the way some contact universities structure it. UNISA’s main route into the hospitality field is the Bachelor of Consumer Science, which includes a dedicated Hospitality Management stream, alongside a separate suite of Tourism Management qualifications that also connect closely … Read more

NSFAS-funded UNISA students receive tuition and registration fee coverage plus two specific cash allowances: a once-off Learning Materials Allowance and a monthly Personal Care Allowance. They do not receive an accommodation allowance or a travel allowance, and the amount they receive for daily living costs is significantly lower than what students at contact universities receive. … Read more

A UNISA “noname” file is a downloaded document — usually a registration confirmation, statement of account, exam admission letter, or another system-generated notice — that lands on a student’s device without a proper file extension. Instead of showing as a PDF, HTML page, or Word document, it simply appears as a file called “noname” with … Read more

Applying for nursing at UNISA is different from applying for most other undergraduate qualifications, because UNISA’s core nursing degree is designed for people who are already registered nurses, not for school leavers starting a nursing career from zero. This article explains exactly what UNISA offers in nursing, who actually qualifies to apply, the step-by-step application … Read more

Deregistering at UNISA means cancelling some or all of the modules a student is registered for, done through the myUnisa online student portal. The process is entirely online for module cancellations, while a full withdrawal from studies for an extended period follows a slightly different route through a formal deferment form. This article explains both … Read more

Whether UNISA accepts late applications depends entirely on which qualification a person wants to study and where the university currently stands in its annual application cycle. UNISA runs a structured, dated application calendar rather than accepting applications on a rolling basis all year round. For most undergraduate qualifications, honours degrees, and postgraduate diplomas, there is … Read more

NSFAS does not fund UNISA short courses. This applies across all Short Learning Programmes (SLPs) offered by UNISA, regardless of the subject area, duration, or price of the course. NSFAS funding is reserved for approved undergraduate qualifications — Higher Certificates, Diplomas, Advanced Diplomas, and Bachelor’s Degrees — and short courses fall outside this category entirely. … Read more

There is no single flat “registration fee” at UNISA. What most people mean when they ask this question is the minimum amount a student must pay to activate their registration for a semester or academic year. This amount depends on the number of modules a student registers for, the type of module (semester or year … Read more

Many people without a National Senior Certificate (matric) want to know whether the University of South Africa (UNISA) will still accept them. The direct answer is: standard admission to UNISA requires matric or an equivalent qualification, but UNISA does provide alternative entry routes for people who do not have it. These routes are not automatic, … Read more

Yes, NSFAS funds Higher Certificate qualifications at UNISA, provided the applicant meets the standard financial eligibility criteria and the Higher Certificate represents their first post-school qualification. Since UNISA is one of South Africa’s 26 public universities, its Higher Certificate offerings fall within the same funding framework NSFAS applies across all public universities and TVET colleges, … Read more

Yes, UNISA offers nursing-related qualifications, but not in the way many prospective students expect. The University of South Africa does not offer a pre-registration nursing programme that trains someone with no prior nursing background into a registered nurse from scratch. Instead, its core nursing offering, the Bachelor of Arts in Nursing Science, is a career-advancement … Read more

Yes, Funza Lushaka funds UNISA students. The Funza Lushaka Bursary Programme, run by the Department of Basic Education, explicitly includes distance education and part-time students among those eligible for funding, provided they meet all the same academic, age, and citizenship requirements that apply to any other applicant. Since UNISA is a public university offering the … Read more