South African Universities That Offer Bursaries for Undergraduate Students

Every public university in South Africa runs its own financial aid or student funding office, separate from the national government scheme. Read this guide before you assume your only funding option is the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS). Ten universities are covered below: what their funding offices actually pay for, whether they open that support to first-year applicants or only to students already enrolled, what you need to qualify, and where to submit your application right now for the 2027 academic year.

Start with the one rule that applies at every institution on this list: applying for admission and applying for funding are two separate processes. Submitting your university application does not automatically register you for a bursary, a loan, or NSFAS. You must complete each application on its own, usually through a separate portal, and you must do it before that university's specific closing date - not the general admissions deadline.

NSFAS: the funding layer beneath every university on this list

Before you look at any single institution, understand NSFAS. The National Student Financial Aid Scheme is the South African government's main undergraduate funding mechanism, and every university covered in this guide processes NSFAS awards through its own financial aid office. If your combined household income is R350,000 a year or less, apply to NSFAS directly at nsfas.org.za - NSFAS pays tuition, a book allowance, an accommodation allowance, and a meal allowance, and issues a once-off laptop allowance to first-time entering students. If your household earns between R350,001 and R600,000, apply through NSFAS's Missing Middle loan channel instead of the bursary channel.

NSFAS does not fund every student who needs help. Households earning above R600,000, and NSFAS-funded students who exhaust their qualifying years, both fall outside its coverage. This is exactly the gap each university's own funding office exists to close - through merit bursaries, top-up funding, and institutional scholarships that run independently of the state scheme. That is what the rest of this guide covers in detail.

University of Cape Town (UCT)

UCT's Upper Campus, where the university's Student Financial Aid office processes NSFAS and institutional bursary applications.

UCT's Student Financial Aid office sits inside the Department of Student Affairs and administers both NSFAS funds and the university's own scholarships and merit awards. Beyond NSFAS, UCT offers institutional scholarships that reward strong academic performance and external, donor-funded bursaries such as the Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program, which covers full tuition, residence accommodation, meals through the residence system, medical cover, a living stipend, and a book allowance for the students it selects.

Entry to a UCT bachelor's degree requires Achievement Level 4 (50-59%) or better in four recognised NSC 20-credit subjects, though specific faculties set higher thresholds. UCT opens undergraduate applications on 1 April and closes them on 31 July each year - for 2027 entry, that means the window runs from 1 April 2026 to 31 July 2026. You apply for financial aid as part of the same admissions process, and NSFAS applications open separately in September and must be submitted before the university's own admissions cycle concludes.

Both first-time entering students and continuing students can apply for UCT's institutional bursaries and scholarships, though specific donor-funded awards like Mastercard Foundation scholarships are typically reserved for incoming first-years. Apply for admission and financial aid together at uct.ac.za/dsa/student-financial-aid, and check the Bursary and Loan Notice Board for current external opportunities.

University of the Witwatersrand (Wits)

The Great Hall on Wits' Braamfontein campus in Johannesburg, home to the Financial Aid & Scholarships Office (FASO).

Wits runs its funding through the Financial Aid & Scholarships Office (FASO), which administers NSFAS awards alongside donor and sponsor bursaries on the university's behalf. For need-based funding, FASO applies the same R350,000 household income threshold NSFAS uses. Qualifying students get their actual tuition and prescribed study material costs covered, and many also receive subsidised accommodation and a living allowance that includes meals.

You must hold South African citizenship or permanent residency to access almost every internal Wits bursary, and you need active registration as an undergraduate student for the academic year you're applying for. Wits opens its internal financial aid applications from September through October each year - for the 2027 academic year, that means the portal opens in September 2026, so create your student account and start monitoring the FASO website from that month rather than waiting until December.

FASO funding covers both first-time entering students and continuing students, provided each continues to meet the income threshold and maintains satisfactory academic progress. Start your application at wits.ac.za/study-at-wits/financial-aid-and-scholarships-administration.

Stellenbosch University

Stellenbosch University's library and Rooiplein, at the centre of a campus served by the SUFO bursary and loan office.

Stellenbosch University Funding Opportunities (SUFO) is the university's own bursary and loan office, and it functions primarily as a top-up mechanism rather than a standalone fund. If NSFAS already covers you, you still apply to SUFO separately to bridge any gap between what NSFAS pays and what your actual costs are. If you don't qualify for NSFAS at all, SUFO is the main route into Stellenbosch's own bursaries and loans.

SUFO funding may only be used for tuition, accommodation (on campus or private), meals, and textbooks - it explicitly excludes travel, equipment, stationery, society membership fees, and gym costs, so don't expect it to cover a laptop. Households earning under R350,000 a year qualify under the standard threshold, which rises to R600,000 for students living with a disability. Awards are decided on available funding, financial need, academic merit, and, for donor-specific bursaries, the sponsor's own criteria.

Applications for 2027 funding opportunities are open now. Both prospective students with a conditional or final offer and current undergraduates can apply, so first-year and continuing students use the same system. Apply as early as possible - SUFO explicitly recommends this, since funding is limited and processed as it comes in - at finaid.sun.ac.za, and review the required supporting documents under the Application Process section before you start.

University of Pretoria (UP)

The Musaion building on UP's Hatfield Campus, where the student funding office processes financial aid applications.

UP's student funding office processes NSFAS, institutional scholarships, merit awards, and external bursaries through a single online financial aid application form. You need a UP student number before you can complete it, which means you apply for financial aid during the year before you intend to study - not after you've already started.

Coverage depends entirely on which specific bursary or scholarship you're awarded rather than a single blanket policy: some UP-administered funds, like the government's Funza Lushaka teaching bursary, cover full tuition, accommodation including meals, books and learning materials, and a monthly living allowance. Others cover tuition only. Read the terms of your specific offer carefully, since UP states plainly that it guarantees no loan or bursary - funding is awarded, not automatic.

You must submit supporting documents proving financial need directly through the application system, and you should apply as early in the cycle as you can, since UP processes applications on an ongoing basis rather than waiting for a single deadline. Both new and continuing students use the same online form. Apply at up.ac.za/student-funding.

University of Johannesburg (UJ)

UJ's Auckland Park Kingsway Campus, home to the Orange Carpet Rewards Programme for top-performing first-years.

UJ's standout offer is the Orange Carpet Rewards Programme, a merit bursary built entirely around your Admission Point Score (APS). Score 37-39 and you receive 50% off your tuition fees; score 40-41 and that rises to 75%; score 42 or higher and UJ covers 100% of your tuition. Orange Carpet also waives your residence application deposit and your academic registration fee, though it does not extend to accommodation or bookstore costs beyond those two waivers - budget for residence and meals separately even if you qualify.

Orange Carpet is specifically a first-year rewards programme: it exists to attract top-performing incoming students, so continuing students access UJ's other bursary and NSFAS channels instead, administered through the university's Student Finance office. Selection for every UJ funding route runs on APS and subject-specific requirements, and you'll need certified ID copies, income statements or payslips, and proof of your financial circumstances ready to upload.

UJ keeps its 2027 undergraduate application window open until 31 October 2026, later than most universities on this list, though high-demand programmes fill up long before that final date. Apply strictly online through the UJ Student Portal at uj.ac.za/admission-aid/student-finance.

University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN)

The clock tower on UKZN's Pietermaritzburg campus, one of five campuses served by the university's Department of Student Funding.

UKZN's Department of Student Funding manages NSFAS awards plus its own bursaries sourced from corporate donors, social responsibility funds, and deceased estate bequests. What any individual UKZN bursary covers depends entirely on what its specific sponsor specifies - some pay 100% of every cost you have, others cover only tuition, accommodation, a meal allowance, a book allowance, or a laptop, in any combination the donor chooses. Read each award's terms individually rather than assuming a standard package.

UKZN-administered bursaries funded through Student Funding are aimed mainly at continuing undergraduate students, typically awarded after registration to applicants whose gross family income doesn't exceed R600,000 a year, provided they passed 100% of their registered courses in the prior year with an average above 64.5%. First-time entering students should apply to NSFAS directly rather than to UKZN's own bursary channel, and should send applications for externally-funded bursaries straight to the sponsoring organisation, not to UKZN's Financial Aid office.

All UKZN applications, including the 2027 intake, go through the Central Applications Office (CAO) online only - UKZN does not accept walk-in or manual paper applications, and the 2027 window closes 31 October 2026. Start at studentfunding.ukzn.ac.za.

Rhodes University

Rhodes University's Clock Tower building in Makhanda, Eastern Cape, where financial aid forms are issued after admission.

Rhodes requires every student, first-year and continuing alike, to apply for financial assistance annually - a Rhodes award never carries over automatically from one year to the next. If you're a new applicant, the Financial Aid Office only issues you a financial assistance application form once the university has sent you a letter confirming acceptance or provisional acceptance, so you cannot apply for funding before you have an admission outcome.

Rhodes' own institutional scholarships and grants can cover tuition, fees, and residence costs, and extend to meals specifically for students who live in a Rhodes residence or have purchased a meal plan - if you live off-campus without a meal plan, your award won't include a meals component. NSFAS applications run entirely separately from the university's own process, so apply to NSFAS through its own website if your household income qualifies you.

Undergraduate applications for 2027 open on 1 April 2026 through the ROSS online portal, with a general closing date of 30 September 2026 covering both admissions and financial aid, though Science, Commerce, Pharmacy, Education, and Law set their own, often earlier, thresholds. Register your ROSS account and apply at ru.ac.za.

University of the Western Cape (UWC)

The entrance to UWC's Central Campus in Bellville, home to the Ninety One Bursary Programme.

UWC's financial aid office channels NSFAS funding to eligible students and separately runs a noticeboard of external bursary opportunities, the most comprehensive of which is the Ninety One Bursary Programme. Ninety One covers tuition, accommodation, meals, and learning materials in full, and layers additional support on top: private tutoring, career guidance, resilience training, and mental health and financial wellbeing sessions - support that goes well beyond what a standard tuition-only bursary offers.

UWC requires undergraduate, postgraduate, diploma, and certificate students alike to apply for financial aid every single year - a NSFAS or UWC award from one year does not automatically continue into the next without a fresh application. Award size under NSFAS follows the standard NSFAS means test; specific donor bursaries like Ninety One publish their own eligibility criteria each cycle.

UWC's 2027 applications opened 1 April 2026, with a general closing date of 30 September 2026 - Dentistry and Oral Health applicants face an earlier cut-off of 31 August 2026, so don't wait until September if you're applying to those specific programmes. Apply for admission and financial aid together at uwc.ac.za/admission-and-financial-aid.

University of the Free State (UFS)

The Main Building on UFS's Bloemfontein campus, where funding applications run separately from admissions.

UFS treats admission and funding as genuinely separate processes, and says so directly: applying to UFS does not create an NSFAS application for you. You must apply to UFS for a place, and apply to NSFAS (or another bursary) for money, as two independent steps. Beyond NSFAS, UFS runs a number of sundry bursaries funded by individual sponsors and institutions, alongside postgraduate diploma tuition bursaries that credit up to R27,000 directly to a student's UFS tuition account on successful registration - though students remain responsible for other fees, levies, and residence charges not covered by that credit.

UFS application to study is free - there is no application fee for the standard 2027 undergraduate cycle. The general application window opened 1 April 2026 through apply.ufs.ac.za and closes 30 September 2026 for most programmes, though Faculty of Health Sciences applicants face a much earlier deadline of 31 May 2026. If you're an existing University of the Free State student browsing this site's own bursary and scholarship listings, remember UFS's own funding office still requires its separate application regardless of any external award you secure elsewhere.

Both first-time and continuing students can access UFS's sundry bursaries, subject to each specific fund's own terms. Start your funding application through the UFS student finance portal linked from ufs.ac.za.

North-West University (NWU)

The Great Hall on NWU's Potchefstroom campus, where the university's automatic academic merit bursary is applied.

NWU is the one university on this list that awards a meaningful merit bursary completely automatically, with no separate application required for full-time students. Score 75% or higher in your matric exams, and NWU deducts 25-100% off your first-year fees the moment you submit your university application - the higher your average within that band, the larger the reduction, and it happens without you filling in a bursary form. From second year onward, the same automatic logic continues: full-time students who passed every module the previous year with an overall average of 75% or higher keep receiving the merit bursary automatically, with no annual re-application needed as long as they keep qualifying.

The one exception is part-time contact students, who must apply for the merit bursary manually rather than receiving it automatically, and who receive 50% of the standard allocation if approved. NWU also offers Family, Leadership, and Sports bursaries, which do require an annual application ahead of their own closing dates, separate from the automatic academic merit bursary.

NWU opens its 2027 application cycle on 1 June 2026. Start collecting your certified ID copy, final Grade 12 results, and current proof of household income well before that date, since NSFAS and most need-based NWU bursaries still require these documents even though the merit bursary itself needs no separate form. Apply and review every bursary type at studies.nwu.ac.za/studies/bursaries.

How to choose where to apply

Don't limit yourself to one university's funding office. Apply to NSFAS first if your household income qualifies you, since it's the largest single source of undergraduate funding in the country and every institution above processes it. Then check your specific university's own bursary noticeboard for merit awards and donor-funded programmes layered on top - many of these, like UWC's Ninety One programme or UCT's Mastercard Foundation scholarships, cover meaningfully more than NSFAS alone.

Finally, browse this site's own bursary and scholarship listings for external, corporate, and government-funded opportunities that exist independently of any single university - many of these pay for study at any accredited South African institution, which means they stack on top of whatever your university's own funding office offers rather than competing with it.