It seems that every second day that the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) has to warn students about a new scam and today the latest is around applications which have not opened up yet.

“We are finalising relevant upgrades to our systems to ensure a smooth application experience for you. Beware of fake websites and social media platforms advising you to share your personal details and apply for NSFAS funding through links; these messages are NOT from NSFAS,” the organisation writes.

“While waiting for the NSFAS 2022 applications to open, we encourage prospective applicants without university or TVET college admissions to apply for 2022 admission at institutions of their choice before they close. Keep checking our platforms for all 2022 applications updates.”

Problems with the NSFAS site and its systems handling applications has been a bugbear in the past so, while it seems to be causing a delay here, we’re sure it will be appreciated in the long run.

Last year #NSFAS was trending in the South African Twitter sphere because of problems associated with the organisation including its website and constant downtime. The main complaints, however, was late funding which will hopefully also be improved with the aforementioned upgrades.

As 2021 comes to a close and the Matric exams loom closer many students are looking towards 2022 to continue their education. It seems those which are trying to do their due diligence and secure funding are running up against a wall looking for applications, which is why NSFAS has found it necessary to continually remind students about the process not being open just yet.

Once again students will need to wait around for things to change and hope that the upgraded application system can handle the flow of applicants once it opens.