Immediate Release | 16 July 2026
10 years after the #FeesMustFall protests shook campuses across South Africa, thousands of young people still face the same fundamental question: how do I pay for university, and how do I stay there once I’m in?
Despite a decade of debate and well-intentioned interventions, many students, especially those from lower- and middle-income families, continue to fall through the cracks of the higher education funding system. Rising living costs, a challenging economic climate and intense, competing demands on public resources mean that sustainable, predictable support remains out of reach for far too many.
“Ten years after #FeesMustFall, it is clear that challenges around student funding remain far from resolved,” says Werner Abrahams, CEO at the Ikusasa Student Financial Aid Programme (ISFAP).
“The reality on the ground is that the need is growing faster than available support, and students are carrying the emotional and financial consequences.”
While some students receive full funding and others are able to self-fund, a large cohort sits in between. These “missing middle” students often come from households that earn too much to qualify for many traditional forms of assistance, yet too little to realistically cover tuition, accommodation, transport, learning materials and other essentials.
The result: students working long hours in part-time jobs, taking fewer modules than they can handle academically, skipping meals, or dropping out altogether when the financial strain becomes unbearable.
ISFAP is at the heart of efforts to close this gap by combining funding with structured, wrap-around support. Through a blend of donor, corporate and institutional partnerships, ISFAP focuses on students from poor and “missing middle” backgrounds, particularly in priority fields such as engineering, health sciences, ICT and other critical skills.
The programme provides not only tuition and accommodation support, but also elements such as mentorship, psychosocial support and academic assistance, key factors in enabling students not just to access university, but to complete their studies and transition into work.
Early results show that this approach can improve retention and graduation rates for funded students, even in a tough economic environment where families are under growing pressure and job markets are uncertain.
“Sustainable funding models are no longer about increasing expenditure, but about leveraging partnerships, improving student success, and maximising the return on every rand invested,” said Abrahams.
This Mandela Month, the question is not whether the country spoke loudly enough about the right to education. Rather, the real question is whether, a decade after #FeesMustFall, South Africa is organising its resources, partnerships and innovation in a way that genuinely opens doors for those who need it most.
ISFAP believes that no single organisation can solve the student funding crisis. However, by sharing what is working, and where the gaps still are, the organisation hopes to contribute to a more honest national conversation about how to support the next generation of graduates.
10 years since #FeesMustFall our focus must be on practical, scalable funding solutions. By working together across sectors, we can help students not only enter university but also complete their qualifications and successfully transition into meaningful employment. We invite potential partners to join us in shaping the future of student support, reach out today to explore how we can collaborate.
Ends.
Media Enquiries
Anneke Burns
ISFAP Public Relations
071 423 0079
anneke@abpr.co.za
About ISFAP:
The Ikusasa Student Financial Aid Programme Foundation NPC (ISFAP) is a non-profit organisation dedicated to funding and supporting the higher education of South Africa’s poor and missing middle students. Established in 2017, ISFAP partners with universities and private sector entities to ensure that students in need can access and succeed in higher education, contributing to the nation’s economic development.
For more information, visit: www.isfap.org.za