All prospective* and current students who are South African citizens, or who have permanent residence status, can apply for funding from the University.

Students who come from a home with a gross household income (HHI) of less than R350 000 per year (R29 167 per month) – or a for a student living with a disability, a gross HHI of not more than R600 000 per year (R50 000 per month) – are advised to apply for the government-funded National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) bursary. This bursary is available to South African citizens, permanent residents, and all SASSA grant recipients. This bursary is available to South African citizens and all SASSA grant recipients. Applications are done online via the NSFAS website, www.nsfas.org.za.

NSFAS-funded students are encouraged to also apply for SU funding, should they for any reason become defunded from NSFAS: the student is then registered on the CUBL database and eligible to also be considered for top-up or shortfall funding from the University.

IMPORTANT NOTE The University has limited funds available. An application for funding is not a guarantee that funding will be granted.

*Student has received a conditional or a final offer from Stellenbosch University (SU) and student has a unique, 8-digit SU student number

The Bursary Yearbook lists SU-managed as well as private company, trust, and government bursaries and funds. These are grouped by faculty, though we suggest that no matter your study programme, you at least also review all the listings in Section 1 (bursaries for study in most faculties) and in Section 3 (Faculty of Science). Any bursary offered across more than one faculty may only be listed under the Science faculty. Please take note of the differing closing dates and application processes.

All listings that state Applications: SUFO means you need to apply via the SU Funding Opportunities (SUFO) online site. The CUBL bursary officers select and/or nominate candidates according to these bursary-specific eligibility criteria and/or under funder-bursar conditions and instructions.

The process is online. No emailed applications will be accepted or considered.

Kindly be aware that the application site doesn’t store any information you provide until you reach the stage of uploading support documents (section 8). If you choose to exit the application form at any point before this (that is, before you finish section 7), please be advised that you will need to start over again.

It’s therefore best to complete your application in one sitting – and we recommend doing so well before the closing date. And then please check your mailbox on a regular basis – and also the spam folder – for any application updates.

IMPORTANT NOTE You will have the option to apply for SU Funding Opportunities or an External Student Loan. The student loan is an application to an external company, Student Hero, and is not managed nor administered by Stellenbosch University.

We recommend all your required support documentation, including certified copies where required, are prepared and ready to upload before you begin the online application. This will save you time when you’re online. Save your prepared documents in a clearly labelled folder, for example, SUFO application.

Please take careful note of the following information and support documents required to complete a funding application:

 

THE STUDENT full name, cell phone number, email address, ID number, SU student number certified copy of ID certificate/testimonial from school confirming leadership or sport achievement, if applicable CV (one-pager) proof of disability, if applicable	THE STUDENT’S SPOUSE full name, cell phone number, email address, ID number copy of ID copy of death certificate, if applicable
	FAMILY INFORMATION proof of registration or letter of acceptance for each sibling who will be at university in 2024, if applicable
THE STUDENT’s FIRST PARENT or LEGAL GUARDIAN/ GUARDIAN full name, cell phone number, email address, ID number copy of ID proof of guardianship, if applicable (this can be a letter from the social worker or an affidavit) proof of income* divorce settlement page that indicates divorced and spousal support, if applicable maintenance agreement that confirms monthly amount received, if applicable proof of government grant, if applicable proof of monthly pension, if applicable death certificate, if applicable	THE STUDENT’S SECOND PARENT or LEGAL GUARDIAN/ GUARDIAN full name, cell phone number, email address, ID number copy of ID proof of guardianship, if applicable (this can be a letter from the social worker or an affidavit) proof of income* divorce settlement page that indicates divorced and spousal support, if applicable maintenance agreement that confirms monthly amount received, if applicable proof of government grant, if applicable proof of monthly pension, if applicable death certificate, if applicable
plus the FORM _SUFO_CONSENT signed by all parties

_formal employment latest salary slip (not older than 3 months) or ITA34
_informal employment affidavit that states the monthly income and includes the source of income (eg. vegetable seller, domestic worker, freelancer)
_self-employment bank statements clearly showing monthly income (and not older than 3 months) or ITA34
_unemployed affidavit (that states date since unemployed) or retrenchment letter or UIF slip

There are ten bursaries are listed under the Types of Funding tab > SU External Donor Funding filter list. Please review the eligibility criteria and only if you are applying for any of these bursaries, then note the following important points:

• Download and complete the unique application form. Note there are different forms for current (CUG) and prospective (PUG) students.
• Prepare any additional support documentation – refer to table below.
• You will be prompted to upload this documentation during your online application.

There are 11 family bursaries listed in the Bursary Yearbook. Please review the family tree eligibility criteria and only if you are applying for any of these bursaries, then note the following important points:

• It is imperative the student provides proof of descendancy (family tree). Please don’t apply if you cannot prove the descendancy requirement.
• Download and complete the Family Bursary application form. If you are a current student, then download FORM FAMILY BURSARY-CUG; prospective students are to use FORM FAMILY BURSARY-PUG.
• You will be prompted to upload this documentation during your online application.

NAME OF FAMILY BURSARY	FAMILY BURSARY APPLICATION FORM & PROOF OF DESCENDANCY (FAMILY TREE) INFORMATION (that also forms part of the application)
Anna Juliana THERON	FORM FAMILY BURSARY-CUG or FORM FAMILY BURSARY-PUG Proof of family kinship
AW SCHUMANN Physics and/or Maths students only	FORM FAMILY BURSARY-CUG or FORM FAMILY BURSARY-PUG Preference to descendants of AW Schumann, all else being equal
Ds DH NEETHLING Theology students only	FORM FAMILY BURSARY-CUG or FORM FAMILY BURSARY-PUG Descendants of the Rev DH Neethling
Elizabeth MARAIS	FORM FAMILY BURSARY-CUG or FORM FAMILY BURSARY-PUG Direct descendants of Abraham Barend de Villiers and Theophile Antonia de Villiers (née Van der Lingen)
Elizabeth VILJOEN trust	FORM FAMILY BURSARY-CUG or FORM FAMILY BURSARY-PUG Descendants and adopted children of brothers and sisters of the late Miss Elizabeth Viljoen
Frans & Rykie THERON study fund Theology and Agriculture students only	FORM FAMILY BURSARY-CUG or FORM FAMILY BURSARY-PUG Family tree proof that descendants of Theron, Marais or Zeeman
Fritz & Anna MOSTERT	FORM FAMILY BURSARY-CUG or FORM FAMILY BURSARY-PUG Matriculants from schools in the magistrate districts of Hopefield, Malmesbury, Moorreesburg, Piketberg, Porterville, Velddrift, and Vredenburg
Johan & Willie SPIES	FORM FAMILY BURSARY-CUG or FORM FAMILY BURSARY-PUG Family tree proof that children of E Wood and Dr CJ de Kock; review additional particulars
JP SWART	FORM FAMILY BURSARY-CUG or FORM FAMILY BURSARY-PUG Family tree and proof that resident in northern suburbs of Cape Town
Petrusa VAN ZIJL	FORM FAMILY BURSARY-CUG or FORM FAMILY BURSARY-PUG Family tree proof that descendant of one of the six sisters of the late Mrs Petrusa Groenewald (née van Zijl)
Prof JH NEETHLING	FORM FAMILY BURSARY-CUG or FORM FAMILY BURSARY-PUG Preference given to direct descendants of Prof JH Neethling’s father, Hendrik Johannes Neethling Note that students who are not descendents may also apply

The online application form instructions are easy to follow and will take you through the process step-by-step.

POPIA Each student will need to agree to the POPI Act (for personal information) and to consent to all documentation (proof of income, ID, certificates, bank statements, etc) being verified by an external service provider before being able to continue with an application.

Support documents Please make extra sure you upload the correct documentation when prompted.

The application form will take approximately 15 minutes to complete.

After submitting your application, you will receive an auto-email to confirm your application was received.

All communication will be to your student email address, so please remember to check this inbox – and the spam folder – on a regular basis.

Current students (CUG) will be notified via email by end-January; prospective students by end-February. For students applying specifically for SU external donor and/or SU family bursaries, outcome emails will be sent by end-May.

This communication will only be sent to the student’s email address.

For any technical issues whilst completing your application, please email info@sun.ac.za with a screenshot or detailed description of the problem encountered. Please also include your SU student number (#) in this subject line: # / SUFO technical issue.

Technical issues refer to things like: unable to upload support documents; click-button not working; unable to log back on to complete your application; any error message during your online application process.

For general funding or document-type issues, please call SU Client Services on 021 808 3530 or email info@sun.ac.za for assistance – and include your SU student number (#) in this subject line: # / SUFO query.

Office hours Monday to Friday, 08:30 – 16:00

Before you go to the online form, let’s quickly recap:

1. You’ve read each information section above to ensure that the information you provide is correct and accurate.
2. Each support document is labelled to include your SU# as a prefix and saved as a pdf in a clearly marked folder (SUFO application).
3. You have at least 15 minutes blocked off on your calendar to complete the application form.
4. Please make sure select the correct funding option on the application form: SU Funding Opportunities.
   (The External Student Loan option is not SU-managed and you will be directed to an external site.)

The closing date for current students is midnight of Monday, 30 September 2024.

The closing date for prospective students will be midnight of Thursday, 31 October 2024.

No emailed or late applications will be accepted or considered.