Directorate of Financial Aid National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) Online Applications Manual for 2016
IMPORTANT INFORMATION!! 1. 2016 NSFAS Applications will be open from 1 July 2015. Closing dates 30 September (Senior & Returning students). 15 November (New students registering for the first time) 2. Students are encouraged to submit their applications online. ERC Labs will be available to apply online or utilize any other internet facility (NO MORE QUEUNING!!!). 3. ERC Labs will be available to apply online or utilize any other internet facility (NO MORE QUEING!!) 4. RULES: 4.1. Admission to TUT must be obtained before applying for financial assistance. 4.2. Applicants must be South African citizens to be eligible. 4.3. Applicants must be enrolling for a formal subsidized program. 4.4. Students will only be supported for their first tertiary qualification. 4.5. Students that want to register via the WEB must have a biographical record, valid email address, and active cell number, in order to generate a pin and password to be able to login. 5. The following must be uploaded with the application: (ONLY.PDF AND.TIFF SCANNED DOCUMENTS NOT EXCEEDING 520KB WILL BE ALLOWED TO UPLOAD TO THE SYSTEM) 5.1. Certified copy of your ID. 5.2. Certified copies of ALL the listed dependants (Birth and/or ID s documents) must be uploaded and will be verified through their ID numbers. 5.3. Death certificates if parent(s) is/are deceased. 5.4. Proof of income of both parents/guardian (salary slip, pension slip or child grant slip, UIF not older than 3 months). 5.5. Affidavit (not older than 3 months) from unemployed parents(s)/guardian or UIF slip to be provided. 5.5.1 Affidavit from students will not be accepted (only parents). 5.5.2 Affidavit with no amount will not be accepted. 5.5.3 False information will result in the termination of your NSFAS application and / or adjudication. 5.6 Certified copy of latest G12 results (only for first time applicants). 5.7. Proof of registration if one or more family members are studying at another tertiary institution. 6. Ensure that the above documents are certified on the same side as the image. 7. A student s eligibility shall generally be based on academic performance and financial neediness (as determined by a means test). In the latter case, the student shall furnish 1
information on the sources of income of his or her family. Note that TUT reserves the right to undertake further steps in the verification of information provided by the applicant (e.g. employment detail of family members) even if this necessitates the use of outside agencies. 7.7.1 By accepting the terms and conditions I, the applicant warrant that I have obtained the above information as required directly from the household / family members listed and that I have their consent to convey it to the university and that the university may verify such information. 7.7.2 I, the applicant verily believe that the information disclosed are true and correct, and this information thus made available whether disclosed or undisclosed is subject to the qualification that it may be verified by the university, with the understanding that the university will keep the information confidential. 7.7.3 I acknowledge that any allocation made to me is provisional and subject to the verification of official documentation and should it be found that false information was provided with the application, the university may enforce all its legal rights including that of termination of the award and adjudication. 7.7.4 I understand that my award may be withdrawn if I have breached the university general rules of conduct at any time. 2
Process for Applying Online via the Web 1. First Year or Prospective Students ADMISSION TO THIS UNIVERSITY MUST BE OBTAINED BEFORE THE FINANCIAL AID APPLICA- TION WILL BE CONSIDERED!! 1.1 A valid e-mail address it is required before an electronic application can be submitted. An e-mail address can be obtained from any one of the free email providers e.g. www. hotmail.com or www.yahoo.com or www.gmail.com 1.2 Access the ONLINE ADMISSION APPLICATION facility by using the the following internet link: www.tut.ac.za Complete the Admission online in 10 Easy Steps; refer to Enrolment Online Application Guide (www.tut.ac.za/enrol/admissions/onlineapplication/pages) Click on ONLINE APPLICATION under the quick links Click on NEW APPLICATION to start with the First Step Biographical read the notes at the top of each page Don t forget to SAVE at the bottom of each page before continue to the next step. Complete all Steps, before you can go follow the same procedure as the returning students (Point 2 onwards) 3
1.3 If you have not applied for admissions via the web you can go to TUT website www.tut. ac.za and enter your student number and select the request pin button. 1.4 Follow the same procedure as the returning students (Point 2 onwards) 2. Returning or Senior Students 2.1 Returning students need to go to the TUT website www.tut.ac.za and login with your student number and pin (Note important information from point 7) 4
2.2 Go to the Financial Aid Application button. 2.3 Select the Financial Aid Applications Rules button please read the conditions to ensure you do understand and select the I ACCEPT button. 2.4 Go to the Financial Aid Application button and enter year 2016 to apply for financial aid. Select the NEW APPLICATION button. 5
2.5 Enter the funding requirements for the year. (Note: NSFAS / TUT gives priority to the following cost categories Tuition, Book and TUT Residences). 2.6 Enter the total number of family member that are depended on the household income (only a maximum of 7 including you will be allowed). Please start with your parents/guardian information first. Only 2 deceased member s information will be allowed to add additional. 2.7 Select the Accommodation Type While Studying from the drop down menu (this field is mandatory and must be selected from the drop down menu). 6
2.8 Select the Residential area code button (this field is mandatory and must be selected from the drop down menu) select home residential area code and not the postal code. 7
2.9 Save your information. 2.10 If you want to make changes select the Revert Changes button. 2.11 Complete all the family members details as shown on the example below. 2.12 All the red (* asterix) fields are compulsory ensure that you have all the ID numbers/ documents before starting to enter the data because it will not save if you do not complete these fields (Please capture all information in CAPITAL LETTERS. (The compulsory fields are :) ID Number; Dependant Initials and Surname; Relation; Tertiary (Y/N/D); Income Type; Annual Gross Income. These fields are indicated with the down arrow sign to assist you. 8
IMPORTANT NOTE: TERTIARY: Only select Tertiary if you can provide proof of enrollment/registration or valid student number if a dependant enrolled at another Institution enter the student number in the Dependence Reason field. (Upload this document under the ID DOC button.) INCOME TYPE: If you select No Income for a dependant, insert zero (0) in the Annual Gross Income field). Remember one or more family member(s) must have an income. They cannot all have zero (0) income. If you select any other INCOME TYPE other than NO INCOME please ensures that you capture a value greater than zero(0) in the Annual Gross Income field. 9
2.13 Please amend or select from the drop down menu Number of Years in the current Occupation and select the name of EMPLOYER from the drop down menu. 2.14 Upload to each family member his or her own ID / Birth / Death and Proof of registration certificates under the ID Doc button. 2.15 Save the family members information before you upload the documents per family member. This will ensure that all your upload button is active. 2.16 Select the Upload Document Button 10
2.17 Select the Browse button to find the saved ID/Birth/Death/Proof of registration certificate for the specific family member, on your own directory e.g. storage device (memory stick). 2.18 If you try to upload any document not in the mentioned.tiff or.pdf format, you will receive the following message You cannot upload this type of file under this category, and the document will not be saved. 11
2.19 If you try to upload the required format extension but it exceeds the 520KB you will receive the following message You cannot upload a file bigger than 520KB under this category, and it will not be saved. 2.20 Browse to find the ID document for the specific family member that you have entered to upload. Open the document and select the SAVE button. 2.21 Only when you received the DOCUMENT/IMAGE upload successful your document is uploaded and you can select the CLOSE button. 12
2.22 You can go back to the same member ID DOC button to verify if you have uploaded the correct ID. Select the File Name and the uploaded image/document will open. 2.23 If you have uploaded a wrong document to the wrong family member you will not be able to delete but only be able to submit a message. 2.24 Go to the underlined Document Sequence number and select the Maintain the Document button. This will open a message block whereby you can submit your message. 13
2.25 Save your message (only submit essential information). 2.26 Only proof of income that is not older than 3 (three) months, must be uploaded. 2.27 Under the PAYSLIP button upload the income /affidavit for each member where there is an Annual Gross Income greater than zero. 2.28 Follow the same steps as from point 2.17, to upload all the income documents. 2.29 Save all the records. 2.30 Only when you receive this message your application is submitted to the Financial Aid Office for verification. NOTE: If you have not uploaded all the required information/ documents for each family member your application is NOT COMPLETE. Only after 30 days you can make a follow-up on your application status if it changed to COMPLETE. If it remains on RECEIVED or INCOMPLETE, please report immediately to your local financial aid office. 14
2.31 Go to the menu Financial Aid Details button to view your current status. If you receive the Application Received status you know that your application information is submitted. You will only be able to make changes if you have this status. 2.32 This Financial Aid Details button will show you further all the funds that are allocated and paid towards your student account. 2.33 If your application status changed to Application Incomplete you need to report to your local financial aid office before 30 September. You will not be allowed to add or change any detail via the WEB, when your application changed to this status. If you fail to report to your financial aid office your application you will not be considered for financial aid assistance for the year 2016. 15
2.34 If your application status changed to Application Complete your application will be evaluated with the Means test for NSFAS 2016. NOTE: 1. Remember only after all the documents were uploaded successfully and verified by the Financial Aid Directorate and obtained a COMPLETE status, you will be evaluated for financial aid assistance. 2. You will receive a acknowledgement letter in December 2015 to acknowledge receipt of your online application. 3. You will be informed in January 2016, whether you are successful or not. This will be done in January 2015 via an SMS message. 4. FINAL CLOSING DATE FOR FINANCIAL AID CLOSES STRICTLY : 30 September 2015 (Students who have registered at the university previously) 15 November 2015 (New students registering for the first time) 10 January (late applications for students registering for the first time will be considered should funding be available) IMPORTANT MESSAGE (PROSPECTIVE STUDENTS CLOSING DATES) The two (2) application closing dates for new students who are registering for the first time in 2016, will be processed as follows: 15 November 2015 All complete applications received will be processed. Students applying after this date (15 Nov 2015) or admitted by the University after this date shall be regarded as late applications and shall only be assessed for funding after the January 2016 registration period. These students shall follow due registration processes and pay the minimum registration fees as applicable and determined by the University. 16