Tool · Study affordability

Funding Gap Calculator

Combine tuition and study costs with an indicative funding route to see the remaining amount you may need to plan for.

University Study duration Starting annual tuition (R) Choose a university with structured data or enter your own amount. Annual tuition increase (%) Annual increase for non-tuition costs (%) Modelled assumption. Future living/accommodation costs are not official forecasts.

Accommodation / year (R) Transport / year (R) Books / learning materials / year (R) Living / personal costs / year (R) Other study costs / year (R)

Funding scenario Assume approved accommodation is covered by the selected funding route

What the NSFAS assumptions mean

The bursary scenario uses the current NSFAS website-display amounts already encoded in PathLens: learning materials R5,200.00/year, living R15,000.00/year and university transport R7,500.00/year, with the existing warning that NSFAS says annual amounts must be aligned to the latest approved DHET guidance. Approved tuition is modelled as covered where the student/programme is actually NSFAS-funded. Accommodation is only included when you explicitly tick the accommodation assumption.

The loan scenario models tuition, learning materials and—if selected—accommodation as covered categories. It does not model living or transport as covered. Actual loan awards and repayment terms control.

Check actual funding eligibility → Open university tuition explorer →