NSFAS Application Statuses And Meanings – Fully Explained

Last updated on September 7th, 2022 at 10:18 am

NSFAS Application Statuses and Meanings: Yes, you have completed your NSFAS Online Application, and you have been checking your application status and always come across some terminologies.

That is what you should see when you check your application status. At least there should be one status result that will show you the stage or progress at which your application is currently at.

However, the issue is that most students hardly understand the NSFAS statuses and their meanings.

Needless to say, you’re one of the thousands of students who have applied for NSFAS funding especially first-time applicants who are eager to see “Approved” on the status results page.

In NFAS Status Check, you will see terms like evaluation, filtering, validation, etc, and you don’t seem to under these, stand what they mean.

No worries, you’re at the right place where I am going to explain all the terminologies to you.

In this article, we’re going to explain all the nine (9) NSFAS application statuses and meanings to you so that you know the progress of your application when you check funding status.

By the way, we strongly recommend that you keep checking your NSFAS application status a few days after you applied.

To do that, see How To Check NSFAS Online Application Status – Easy Guide for the right method to successfully check your NSFAS application to get the actual status.

so, let’s jump right into discussing the NSFAS application statuses and meanings, the terminologies that need a full explanation to many students.

NSFAS Application Statuses And Meanings

There are currently nine (9) NSFAS application statuses that students who applied for the National Student Financial Aid Scheme will see at least one when checking the progress of their application.

So, let’s see them below as we explain the NSFAS application statuses and meanings to your understanding.

Application Submitted

In checking your NSFAS application status, you may come across the term “Application submitted“. This NSFAS status means you have completed and have successfully submitted your application for funding.

Again, whenever you see Application Submitted as your NSFAS application status, your application is received, fully loaded, and is currently in the NSFAS system.

NSFAS is letting you know you have successfully completed your application hence your status will show “application is submitted.”

Filtering

When you check your application status for NSFAS and the result show “Filtering“, it means NSFAS is checking if you’re a new applicant or a returning student applicant and whether you qualify for NSFAS funding.

Since both prospective students and returning students can apply for NSFAS, they need to filter your information to verify the type of applicant you are so that, they can process your bursary accordingly.

The trick is, if you’re a returning student and you’re applying for the first time ever, you’re still a new or first time applicant, only that the information you’ll provide shows you’re already a TVET or university student (returning student)

On the other hand, if you’re a returning student and have applied for NSFAS in the previous year but your application was rejected, you’re considered a returning student who is reapplying.

To reapply, we recommend you read How Do I Reapply For NSFAS – Full Guide

Nonetheless, returning students whose application was canceled from funding only need to write NSFAS Appeal Motivational Letter.

I hope at this stage you’re understanding the NSFAS application statuses and meanings. Alright, let’s continue.

Validation

When you see “Validation” as the result of your check, it’s informing you that National Student Financial Aid Scheme is running third-party checks with SASSA and the Department of Home Affairs.

According to NSFAS, if you receive a SASSA grant of R350, you still qualify for NSFAS funding.

However, you are not qualified for the SASSA grant if you’re an NSFAS beneficiary.

So, after you apply for NSFAS, they need to validate if you’re a SASSA grant beneficiary anyway, although it does not affect your qualification for funding.

The trick here is that you can’t get SASSA grant if you’re getting funding from NSFAS but you can get NSFAS if you’re getting a SASSA grant.

You should read Who Qualifies For NSFAS Bursary Or Loans? for an in-depth explanation and knowledge-base of the categories of qualifiers for NSFAS.

Evaluation

The NSFAS application statuses and meanings in “Evaluation” means that the National Student Financial Aid Scheme is verifying all the supporting documents you provided in your application.

The basic requirements for NSFAS application are;

• You must be a South African citizen
• Certified copy of your Identification Document (ID)
• A working email
• A working cell phone number.

We recommend you read Required Supporting Documents For NSFAS Application for more information on all the documents you need to provide in your application for NSFAS funding.

NSFAS will have to verify if your documents are accurate, legit, and qualify you for financial support for your higher education.

If you see evaluation as your NSFAS application status, it simply means your application documents are under scrutiny for eligibility and Genuity.

Funding Eligibility

The meaning of NSFAS application status as “Funding Eligibility” simply is, www.nsfas.org.za is verifying your household financial status that you provided in your application to conclude if you qualify for the funding.

Students who apply for NSFAs funding must have a combined household not more than R350 000 per annum.

This means if your combined household income is more than R350 000 yearly, you do not qualify for NSFAS funding.

So, when you see Funding Eligibility as your NSFAS status, you should know the system is verifying your combined household income to check if you meet the requirement of the combined household income per annum.

Awaiting Academic Results or Admission

This NSFAS application status also means that the National Student Financial Aid Scheme is verifying your academic results and your admission status from the institution you applied for study admission or have been accepted to study.

NSFAS has to know if the institution you applied for study has given you admission.

You can only be funded if you’re a student of an institution. This means NSFAS has to check from the institution you provided in your application to know if you’re given admission or you’re not.

Normally, this stage of your NSFAS application approval takes longer since they have to wait on your institution to your admission status.

Awaiting Registration

When you see “Awaiting Registration” on your NSFAS status check page, it means NSFAS is waiting on your institution to provide them with your registration data.

NSFAS needs your registration data to create a bursary for your funding. without your registration data from your institution, NSFAS cannot create a bursary agreement with your institution so they can fund you.

This stage of the NSFAS application progress usually takes longer than you may expect since NSFAS has to wait on your institution for your registration data.

Signing Of Agreement

In the NSFAS application statuses and meanings, where the results of your NSFAS status show “Signing Agreement”, it means you need to sign your bursary agreement in order for NSFAS to disburse your allowances.

At this point, your application for NSFAS Bursary Funding is approved for allowance.

All you need to do is to sign the NSFAS consent form to commit to the loan agreement with NSFAS.

Payment

In the NSFAS status and meaning, seeing “Payment” means your allowances are paid and you can check your NSFAS Wallet for withdrawal or use at NSFAS partner stores.

Whatever, the final wish has arrived and you can enjoy your NSFAS allowances however you want.

Although you have absolute control over your allowances, you should spend wisely. This is just our financial advise to you.

universityonlineapplication.com

Alright, this is all the nine (9) NSFAS application statuses and meanings and they are fully explained as we promised.

Www.nsfas.org.za is where you check your application status in your MyNSFAS Account Login portal

We do hope this article was helpful.

You can ask your questions in the comment section below.