This project provides partial tuition scholarships to college students studying to become teachers in South Africa, who might not be able to continue their studies without this support. We connect donors with student teachers who they support financially, by paying a portion of their tuition costs while they are studying to become teachers, and then matching a portion of their student loan re-payments after they qualify and become teachers to help them pay off their student loan debt. We also connect each student to an experienced educator on the ground in their area, who volunteers to provide valuable mentorship, guidance, and connections as they embark on their career journey as a teacher.

Opportunities for: 

• Educators in South Africa to help identify prospective student teachers and mentor student selected for participation in the project

• Donors to support tuition scholarships

Detailed Project Concept

This project focuses on providing tuition support to people who are studying to become teachers. The idea is that by helping disadvantaged people become teachers, we not only help the prospective  teacher get an education, we indirectly help everyone that the teacher ultimately teaches to get an education. 

The project welcomes applications from student-teachers that have already been admitted to a teacher training program at an accredited college or university, and who have been approved for an NSFAS Loan to pay for their education. The rationale is that this group of people (the "Missing Middle") do not qualify for full government support for their education expenses, and may not have the resources to fund their own education to become a teacher. 

Background: The National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) is a government-funded entity that provides full tuition and related cost bursaries for university students whose combined household annual income is less than R350,000 (about $20,000). These full cost bursaries are not available to students whose combined annual household income is between R350,000 and R600,000 (about $20,000 - $35,000). For this "Missing Middle", the NSFAS provides government-backed loans of up to a total of R500,000 (about $30,000), which have to be repaid in 5-7 years after graduation. 

Many students in the Missing Middle will need to access all of the NSFAS Loan funding  to pay the 4 year cost of their teacher training. Once students graduate and become teachers they will generally have 5-7 years to pay off the full loan amount. Given the salaries of new teachers, this debt loan can be a crushing disincentive to prospective teachers to enroll in teacher training in the first place, and to go through with becoming teachers after they graduate. 

The students supported by this project are all from this Missing Middle income threshold, and all will need to take on significant debt to become a teacher. To receive tuition support through this project, prospective teachers are required to submit proof that they have been admitted to study teaching and that they have been approved for the NSFAS loan for the year in question. Each student also submits a one or two page essay outlining why they want to study teaching, and what they intend to do with the certification once they receive it. They are also required to submit evidence each year of their ongoing eligibility for the NSFAS Loan and that they are making satisfactory progress toward receiving their degree. Both of these aspects are already well administered by the NSFAS program, so our marginal bureaucratic load is very low.

For each student selected to participate in the project, The Free Citizen Project matches their tuition payments while they are studying, up to R25,000 (about $1,500) per year, for up to 5 years. This covers between 35 and 40% of their total tuition costs per year. The goal is to reduce the student's NSFAS Loan burden by that same amount. Students retain significant financial "skin in the game", which they fund through their NSFAS Loan. Each year, once the student demonstrates that they have paid their share of their tuition (i.e. the full cost minus R25,000), then The Free Citizen Project pays the remaining R25,000 tuition balance directly to their college or university. 

After one of these student graduate, provided they go out and actually teach in any school in South Africa, The free Citizen Project matches their NSFAS Loan repayments, up to a total support amount of R250,000 (about $15,000) over a maximum of ten years from when they first entered college.  We pay the matching contribution in the same way we pay tuition: once the teacher submits proof that they have made a payment, we make our matching payment directly to the NSFAS Loan repayment system. 

A typical student teacher who takes 4 years to get their teaching certificate receives R100,000 (about $6,000) in direct tuition payments, leaving R150,000 (about $9,000) available to match their NSFAS Loan repayments after they graduate, provided they become a teacher and remain so employed for the duration of their participation in the project. 

A typical example looks like this (ignoring interest costs, which start accruing 12 months after graduation):

• 4 years to graduate costs approximately R60,000 a year in tuition plus R60,000 a year in other costs. R120,000 per year equals a total cost of R480,000 (approximately $27,500). 

• Instead of borrowing the entire R480,000, this student borrows R95,000 per year (R380,000 over 4 years), and the Free Citizen Project contributes R25,000 per year (R100,000 over 4 years).

• After 4 years the student's NSFAS Loan balance is R380,000 instead of R480,000. The student still has R150,000 available through the project to match their loan repayments after graduation. 

• For each of the subsequent 5 years, the teacher pays R30,000 (about $1,700) on their NSFAS Loan, and The Free Citizen Project matches that with a R30,000 payment on the loan balance each year. If the student pays off the loan faster, we would match faster, up to the R250,000 total support amount.

• Five years after graduation the student's NSFAS Loan balance is R80,000 instead of R230,000 (not counting interest costs). 

• In the end, the student pays a total of R230,000 (about $13,000) instead of paying a total of R480,000 (about $27,500) for their education (not counting interest costs).

Project Coordinator