Despite welcome commitments to education, the failure to open funding to accredited private institutions means thousands of students will remain stranded, says Geoff Schreiner of Cornerstone Institute.
Cape Town, South Africa – 26 February 2025 – Cornerstone Institute has welcomed the government’s continued recognition of higher education as a national priority, but warned that the latest budget does not go far enough to close South Africa’s growing student funding gap.
According to Geoff Schreiner, Head of Business Studies at Cornerstone Institute, the absence of any material shift on funding for students at accredited private institutions means the core structural problem remains.
“There are elements in this budget we can support,” Schreiner says. “But for the young person who has done everything asked of them – passed matric, gained acceptance, and still cannot afford to register – very little has changed.”
Cornerstone Institute notes that public universities will continue to be oversubscribed, without a clear mechanism to redirect eligible students to accredited private providers with capacity. This comes as no pathway has been created for state funding to follow students into the private sector, despite its growing share of enrolments and graduates
“We had hoped this budget would signal a review of the funding architecture – especially opening limited, criteria‑based support to students at accredited private institutions,” Schreiner notes. “Instead, the message to those students is: ‘you are still on your own’.”
Despite this, Cornerstone Institute insists that there is still room for progress through policy innovation and partnership.
Schreiner proposes pilot schemes in which a limited cohort of students are allowed to use public funding at accredited private institutions that meet stringent quality criteria, particularly in fields such as business and education.
Cornerstone Institute is inviting government, business and civil society to engage in a practical conversation about:
- Recognising the role of private higher education in closing the gap; and
- Designing evidence‑based pilots that can be scaled if they prove successful.
“This cannot be the conversation we postpone to the next budget and the next cohort,” Schreiner concludes. “Every year we delay, we lose another generation of potential. Our door is open to anyone serious about fixing that.”
Media enquiries:
Anneke Burns
Publicist
071 423 0079
anneke@abpr.co.za
About Cornerstone Institute:
Cornerstone Institute is a private, not‑for‑profit higher education institution based in Cape Town. Rooted in social justice and human dignity, Cornerstone offers accredited undergraduate and postgraduate programmes aimed at widening access and developing critical skills for South Africa’s future.
To learn more, visit: https://cornerstone.ac.za/