Provision of financial support to all students
For rural students to succeed at university they need comprehensive financial support to cover their accommodation, food, books, and tuition expenses, as well as academic and social mentoring support to help them address the challenges they face and improve their chances of success.
For many years we bore the full cost of the comprehensive financial support provided to students. Fortunately, the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) now bears the majority of the student expenses and we provide top-up funding as well as cover the cost of the mentoring support. The top-up support covers any accommodation shortfall, provision of a supplementary book allowance (NSFAS does provide an allowance), a monthly top-up food allowance (NSFAS pays the majority), payment for holiday work and any other incidental expenses such as equipment needed, transport costs, additional internet data etc.
In addition, all our students receive comprehensive academic and social mentoring support which entails every student being allocated to a mentor whom they meet monthly. The mentoring costs include a portion of the Director's salary, as he oversees the mentoring programme, the student Coordinator's salary, as well as monthly payments to the 10 local mentors, as well as the costs of the Lifeskills Workshops held during the year. As part of their mentoring support, all students are required to complete 4 weeks per annum of work exposure at their local district hospital - we cover the costs thereof (accommodation and food) and pay them a stipend on completion of their work exposure. We also cover the costs of providing students with mental health support through our partner Syked.
The mentoring support amounts to 20% of the total organisational costs, and direct student expenses comprise 62%, accounting for 82% of the expenses. The mentoring support is a relatively small cost as it increases a student's chances of success from around 50% to over 90%!
The UYDF currently has three staff members - the Director, Financial Administrator and Student Coordinator. Organisational expenses for 2023 comprised 16% of the total expenditure.
A copy of the 2022/3 Audited Financial Statements can be requested by email. The total budget for us to provide support to 211 students in 2024 is R10.4 million. This excludes what the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) will be covering.
Our finances are audited annually, currently by RI Kennedy & Associates. Both narrative and financial reports are submitted to all of our funders. Our annual financial reports are also submitted to the Department of Social Development for us to retain our Public Benefit and Non-Profit status.
All donations made by South Africans and local companies are tax deductible through our 18A tax exemption status.
South African companies can claim BBBEE Socio-Economic Development or Skills Development points for the support of our work.
For more information on our donors, click here.