{"id":682,"date":"2024-07-09T13:15:04","date_gmt":"2024-07-09T13:15:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bursariesafrica.co.za\/tvet\/?page_id=682"},"modified":"2026-09-16T20:41:47","modified_gmt":"2026-09-16T20:41:47","slug":"which-tvet-colleges-offer-free-courses-in-south-africa","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.bursariesafrica.co.za\/tvet\/which-tvet-colleges-offer-free-courses-in-south-africa\/","title":{"rendered":"Which TVET colleges offer free courses in South Africa?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">All 50 public TVET colleges can be free for students who qualify for NSFAS. The NSFAS bursary pays registration and tuition for eligible students on the Pre-Vocational Learning Programme, the NC(V), NATED N-courses and DHET-approved occupational programmes, and adds allowances in many cases. Qualifying students also do not pay the initial registration fee.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Who studies free<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>South African citizens and permanent residents.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Household income of R350,000 a year or less, or R600,000 with a disability.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>SASSA grant recipients, who qualify on the financial test.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Students on approved programmes at public TVET colleges.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Limits of the free funding<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table><thead><tr><th>Rule<\/th><th>Detail<\/th><\/tr><\/thead><tbody><tr><td>Bridging and introductory courses<\/td><td>The Pre-Vocational Learning Programme and N-course introductory courses are funded for one term only<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Levels<\/td><td>Nothing above N6 is funded<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Occupational programme allowances<\/td><td>Paid only in some cases<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Time<\/td><td>Normal duration plus one extra term (N+1)<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Private colleges<\/td><td>Never funded<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">If you do not qualify for NSFAS<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Public college fees are still far lower than private college fees.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Many colleges allow instalments.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Households earning R350,001 to R600,000 may qualify for the NSFAS Student Loan, which is not free.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">No public TVET college charges for NSFAS applications, and many charge no application fee. Anyone asking for money to &#8220;get you free study&#8221; is not official.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">See <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bursariesafrica.co.za\/tvet\/is-tvet-college-education-free\/\">is TVET college education free?<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bursariesafrica.co.za\/tvet\/how-to-apply-for-nsfas-as-a-tvet-college-student\/\">applying for NSFAS as a TVET student<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Frequently asked questions<\/h2>\n\n\n<div id=\"rank-math-faq\" class=\"rank-math-block\">\n<div class=\"rank-math-list \">\n<div id=\"faq-question-1790000000682\" class=\"rank-math-list-item\">\n<h3 class=\"rank-math-question \">Are TVET colleges free in South Africa?<\/h3>\n<div class=\"rank-math-answer \">\n\n<p>For NSFAS-qualifying students, tuition and registration at public TVET colleges are covered. Other students pay fees.<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"faq-question-1790000000683\" class=\"rank-math-list-item\">\n<h3 class=\"rank-math-question \">Does NSFAS pay the registration fee at TVET colleges?<\/h3>\n<div class=\"rank-math-answer \">\n\n<p>Yes. NSFAS&#8217;s 2026 policy says qualifying students do not pay the initial registration fee.<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>All 50 public TVET colleges can be free for students who qualify for NSFAS. The NSFAS bursary pays registration and [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"_ba_keyfacts":"","_ba_provider_contact":"","_ba_provider_name":"","_ba_provider_type":"","_ba_provider_cat":"","_ba_writer":"thabo-mokoena","_ba_reviewer":"naledi-khumalo","iawp_total_views":47,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-682","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bursariesafrica.co.za\/tvet\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/682","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bursariesafrica.co.za\/tvet\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bursariesafrica.co.za\/tvet\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bursariesafrica.co.za\/tvet\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bursariesafrica.co.za\/tvet\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=682"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.bursariesafrica.co.za\/tvet\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/682\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1516,"href":"https:\/\/www.bursariesafrica.co.za\/tvet\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/682\/revisions\/1516"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bursariesafrica.co.za\/tvet\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=682"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}