The student funding programme welcomes higher‑education commitments, but says leaving income caps untouched keeps too many capable students on the sidelines.
Johannesburg, South Africa – 26 February 2026 – Responding to the national budget speech, the Ikusasa Student Financial Aid Programme (ISFAP) has welcomed the continued prioritisation of higher education funding, but expressed concern that income thresholds for missing‑middle students remain unchanged.
ISFAP says this reality leaves in place a structural gap that already prevents many university‑ready learners from enrolling – but emphasises that there is still time, after the budget, to correct course.
“We appreciate the fiscal pressure the country is under and we value the continued commitment to higher education,” says Werner Abrahams, CEO of ISFAP. “At the same time, we cannot ignore the fact that the income caps defining who gets help have not shifted along with the real cost of going to university.”
ISFAP’s experience highlights three urgent concerns:
- Frozen caps in a moving economy: Income bands that once captured the missing middle were set in a different cost environment. With fees, rent and transport all higher, these caps now exclude families who are clearly financially vulnerable.
- Invisible students: A cohort of university‑eligible learners never register, because they fall just above existing caps and just below what’s affordable.
- Lost skills and confidence: When these students step out of the system, South Africa loses future graduates, taxpayers and professionals – and families lose trust that hard work at school will be rewarded.
“The cost of leaving the thresholds where they are is not an abstract figure; it is measured in classrooms that are emptier than they should be,” Abrahams notes. “We believe that is a risk we can still fix together.”
ISFAP is proposing practical steps after the budget:
- Convening a technical working group that brings together Treasury, Higher Education, and universities to review income caps and eligibility criteria for poor and missing‑middle students, using current economic data.
- Designing real budgets that start from what it actually costs a typical missing‑middle household to support a student (fees plus living), and build the thresholds from there, rather than the other way around.
In the meantime, ISFAP will continue to:
- Fund poor and missing‑middle students with a comprehensive model that has demonstrated strong outcomes;
- Share evidence and insights to widen access as far as possible; and
- Engage constructively with government, universities and funders to potentially develop threshold reforms that are fiscally responsible and socially fair.
“Every year we delay updating these lines, we risk losing another cohort of students we cannot easily replace,” Abrahams concludes. “Partnership is essential – and ISFAP stands ready to help design a better fit between policy and reality.”
Ends
Media enquiries:
Anneke Burns
ISFAP Publicist
Email: media@isfap.org.za
Phone: +27 71 423 0079
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 missing middle students. Established in 2017, ISFAP partners with universities and funders to ensure that students in need can access and succeed in tertiary education, particularly in Occupations in High Demand (OHDs). Since its inception, ISFAP has invested over R2 billion in student funding and support.
For more information, visit www.isfap.org.za