In one week the University of Johannesburg has raised nearly R31 million to fund students "too rich" for NSFAS but to poor to afford tuition fees.
|||Johannesburg – Almost R31 million has already been raised for the University of Johannesburg’s (UJ) “missing middle” fundraising campaign.
The “most ambitious campaign ever undertaken by a South African institution of higher learning in support of students who are ‘too rich’ to qualify for NSFAS [National Students Financial Aid Scheme] support, but ‘too poor’ to afford fees and qualify for commercial loans”, was launched this week, the university said on Sunday.
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The initiative, dubbed “the UJ Missing Middle Campaign”, and which aimed to raise at least R60 million by the end of the year, kicked off with a high profile event in Johannesburg on Thursday evening where R10 million was generated.
Nearly R31 million had already been raised by Sunday morning, including a personal donation of R200 000 by UJ Vice Chancellor and Principal Professor Ihron Rensburg, as well as R100 000 pledged by the university’s Students Advisory Council. The executive deans of faculties at the university had also jointly pledged R550 000 to the fund.
“Our job as universities is the empowerment of the next generation of leaders for the South African economy, society, and governance through academic study leading to concrete, sought-after qualifications,” Rensburg said.
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“And while the #FeesMustFall campaign last year successfully highlighted the funding challenges facing all South African universities, we are acutely aware as a major university in the country’s economic heartland that we have a particular duty to thousands of our students who no longer qualify for government support via NSFAS, but whose families cannot afford to put them through university. It is this ‘missing middle’ that UJ aims to support through the fundraising campaign,” he said.
Simphiwe Dana, one of UJs most illustrious alumnae, performed at the launch and another UJ graduate, Cynthia Tshaka, was master of ceremonies.
About 5 000 students at UJ were currently classified as part of this “missing middle” – almost all of whom had been assisted by the university, which had paid their initial payment for the 2016 academic year. However, these students still required support for the balance of their fees, books, and other living needs.
The campaign aimed to cover the tuition fee portion of the full year’s costs. The average total cost of a year’s study at UJ – which was one of the more affordable South African universities – currently stood at R85,000, including tuition and residence fees, books, and a living allowance.
“UJ makes a major contribution to the economy of South Africa and particularly of Gauteng, both through the provision of a steady stream of well-qualified and highly-motivated individuals able to take up management and leadership roles in the workplace and through research which directly benefits communities and industry,” Rensburg said.
“In order to continue to be able to play this important role in empowering individuals and their families and for the economy, UJ is appealing to more businesses and individuals to dig deep and give generously to the campaign as a concrete contribution to shaping and empowering the country’s future leaders,” he said.
African News Agency
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