Bursaries in KwaZulu-Natal 2026

Sasol's flagship bursary programme funds South African students in engineering, IT, and commerce — covering tuition, accommodation, and vacation employment.

Eskom bursaries fund engineering, IT, and finance students across South Africa — covering the full cost of study plus vacation employment.

Anglo American funds mining engineering, geology, and related engineering students with a full bursary including vacation employment at their operations.

Standard Bank bursaries support commerce, finance, actuarial science, and IT students. Recipients join Standard Bank's vacation programme and are fast-tracked into the graduate pipeline.

Absa offers a full bursary for commerce, finance, accounting, and IT students. Includes tuition, accommodation, and a living allowance with vacation employment.

The Funza Lushaka Bursary is a government-funded full bursary for education students who commit to teaching in public schools after graduation.

Discovery offers a high-value bursary for actuarial science, statistics, data science, and finance students. Merit-based with no financial need requirement.

The Allan Gray Orbis Foundation Fellowship is South Africa's most prestigious entrepreneurship-focused bursary, open to any field of study. No workback obligation.

MTN funds engineering, ICT, and data science students with a full bursary including vacation employment at South Africa's largest mobile network.

The Telkom Foundation funds ICT, computer science, and electrical engineering students. Notably, this bursary has no workback obligation and is NSFAS-compatible.

The NRF funds postgraduate research students (Honours through PhD) across science, engineering, humanities, and social science fields. No workback, no financial need requirement.

Harmony Gold funds mining engineering, geology, and engineering students in South Africa with a full bursary including vacation employment at their gold mines.

Transnet offers engineering bursaries to South African students studying mechanical, electrical, civil, and industrial engineering — with vacation employment at their logistics operations.

MICT SETA offers bursaries and learnerships for ICT and media students at both university and TVET level. NSFAS-compatible with no workback.

MERSETA funds engineering and manufacturing students at both university and TVET level. A key funding option for students in technical disciplines who need support alongside NSFAS.

Nedbank funds accounting, finance, actuarial science, and IT students. Full bursary with vacation employment and a structured graduate pipeline.

FNB funds finance, accounting, actuarial science, and IT students with tuition and a living allowance. Part of the FirstRand Group talent pipeline.

The NSF funds students in scarce and critical skills fields — including medicine, engineering, social work, and agriculture — at university and TVET level.

Provincial health departments fund medicine, nursing, pharmacy, and allied health students who commit to working in public healthcare after graduation.

PwC offers bursaries for accounting and finance students pursuing a CA(SA) qualification. One of the most prestigious routes into the Big Four accounting firms.

Deloitte SA offers accounting bursaries for students pursuing the CA(SA) qualification — one of the top routes to completing your articles at a Big Four firm.

Old Mutual funds actuarial science, finance, statistics, and IT students. Financial need is not required, making this accessible to middle-income families.

Tiger Brands funds food science, engineering, and commerce students with a focus on Gauteng, KZN, and Western Cape. NSFAS-compatible.

Multiple engineering companies offer bursaries exclusively for women in engineering. Targeted at addressing gender equity in South Africa's engineering sector.

NIHSS funds postgraduate research in humanities, social sciences, law, and education. One of the few dedicated postgraduate bursaries for humanities students in South Africa.

The Shoprite Foundation funds commerce, IT, and food science students. NSFAS-compatible and requires no workback obligation.

The Department of Agriculture funds agriculture, environmental science, and veterinary science students with a full bursary including workback in government agriculture programmes.

The Capitec Bank Foundation funds commerce and mathematics students — primarily in Western Cape, Gauteng, and KZN — with tuition and accommodation support. No workback obligation.

Glencore and Merafe Resources fund mining engineering, geology, and related engineering students with a full bursary and vacation employment at South African mining operations.

South Africa's major law firms and the LPC offer bursaries for LLB students at select universities — with guaranteed pupillage or clerkship placements.