20-year-old Nkosingiphile Khumalo left Port Shepstone for Johannesburg with a clear dream: to become a doctor. Along the way, she discovered a passion for chemistry and data science, but financial barriers nearly brought her journey to a standstill.
“Before receiving the bursary, I wasn’t able to get accommodation because I had to pay upfront,” she says. “I had to travel from home every day.”
Long daily commutes, pressure at home and the constant anxiety of not knowing how she would afford basic needs made it difficult to focus on her studies. Everything changed when she was awarded an ISFAP bursary, after having applied previously.
“I felt relieved because I knew I would finally be able to move into residence and be closer to school,” she recalls. “It has given me confidence… I [could] just focus on school and not worry about debt or not having money for food.”
Nkosingiphile is one of 1,625 graduates that have been funded by the Ikusasa Student Financial Aid Programme (ISFAP). Since 2017, the organisation has funded students pursuing qualifications in occupations in high demand, helping to build a pipeline of scarce skills for South Africa’s economy.
“ISFAP is committed to purpose-led investment in the country’s most valuable asset: its people,” says Werner Abrahams, CEO of ISFAP. “Our goal is to make room for as many deserving young South Africans as possible to obtain university qualifications in occupations in high demand.”
For Nkosingiphile, the bursary has meant far more than the payment of tuition and residence costs. ISFAP’s model of wraparound support recognises that students, especially those from low-income and first‑generation backgrounds, face multiple, intersecting barriers to success. Financial aid alone is often not enough.
Wraparound support brings together a comprehensive package of interventions that follow the student throughout their university journey. This typically includes funding for fees, accommodation, books and meals, combined with academic support, psychosocial care, skills development and structured guidance on navigating campus life.
“ISFAP doesn’t just pay fees,” she says. “They give us allowances, workshops on managing money, support sessions, and programmes that help us navigate varsity life.”
With her mother now unemployed, this integrated support has been crucial. The bursary has enabled her to live closer to campus, participate fully in academic activities and focus on her coursework without the constant worry of whether she will eat or how she will cover transport and other essentials.
Workshops on stress management and financial literacy have been particularly powerful in helping her build lifelong skills. She credits these interventions as “really eye-opening,” teaching her how to ” make sure your expenses don’t become equal to or more than your income.”
By combining financial assistance with practical tools, emotional support and structured guidance, ISFAP’s wraparound support helps students like Nkosingiphile not only to stay in university, but to thrive.
Looking ahead, she plans to pursue a Postgraduate Diploma in data science, or alternatively a Chemistry Honours degree focused on medical chemistry, qualifications that will equip her to contribute in critical, high-demand fields.
She shares a message of gratitude to ISFAP and its partners: “You have decreased burdens that would have been there if you weren’t there. Thank you for sticking to everything promised, it makes you the best of the best.”
As Nkosingiphile’s story shows, the combination of financial aid and holistic, wraparound support can transform a student’s trajectory. By investing in young people with potential and providing the tools they need to thrive, ISFAP and its partners are helping to build a new generation of graduates equipped to drive South Africa’s growth in critical, high‑demand fields.