Postgraduate Funding Is Student Success Infrastructure
SOUTH AFRICA OFTEN SPEAKS ABOUT HIGHER EDUCATION AS A PATHWAY TO OPPORTUNITY
But for many students, that pathway narrows after the first degree.
While undergraduate funding has received significant national attention, postgraduate funding remains far more limited. NSFAS confirms that it no longer funds postgraduate certificates, diplomas, honours, master’s or PhD programmes. This creates a gap in South Africa’s talent pipeline: capable students may complete an undergraduate degree, but lack the financial support to continue into advanced study.
A recent South African study, reported by Bizcommunity and conducted by academics at the University of the Western Cape, shows why this matters. The study examined 623 new postgraduate students registered in 2019 across postgraduate diploma, honours, master’s and doctoral programmes. Only 45.8% received financial aid.
The results were clear. Among postgraduate diploma students, 81% of funded students completed their studies, compared with 71% of unfunded students. Funded students also completed faster, taking an average of 1.51 years, compared with 1.94 years for those without funding. At honours level, completion rates were also slightly higher for funded students.
THE LESSON IS IMPORTANT: FUNDING IS NOT ONLY ABOUT ACCESS. IT IS ALSO A STUDENT-SUCCESS INTERVENTION.
Postgraduate qualifications play a critical role in building specialist skills, research capacity and leadership. They support innovation, deepen professional expertise and help produce the researchers, academics, managers and technical specialists South Africa needs. The National Development Plan set an ambition to increase doctoral graduates, while the National Research Foundation has linked postgraduate funding to equity, success and throughput.
Yet the pipeline remains fragile. OECD education data shows that South Africa has a very low proportion of young adults with master’s-level qualifications compared with OECD countries. For many students from low-income households, postgraduate study can feel like a luxury, especially when there is pressure to enter the labour market and support family members.
THIS IS WHY CORPORATE FUNDERS, FOUNDATIONS AND DEVELOPMENT PARTNERS HAVE AN IMPORTANT ROLE TO PLAY.
Targeted postgraduate funding can support students in scarce-skills fields, students from financially vulnerable households and research areas aligned with industry, community or national development priorities. But funding should not stop at paying fees. Students also need monitoring, academic support, research guidance, mentorship and career-development pathways.
For funders, the opportunity is to treat postgraduate funding as a measurable investment. Success should be tracked through registration, academic progress, retention, completion, time to qualification, employment, further study and research contribution.
