The registration process at the University of the Free State (UFS) is running smoothly.
According to its rector and vice-chancellor, Prof Francis Peterson, registration of first-year and senior students at all three UFS campuses went well.
Peterson, also the chairperson of the board of directors of Universities South Africa (USAf), spoke to the media about registrations at campuses across South Africa and other matters on the higher education sector as well as the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS).
First-year students were welcomed on Saturday, 10 February, and classes started on Monday, 12 February. By then, most students were registered.
He said 8 100 first-year students out of the 250 000 applications, started with their classes this week.
“This shows us that students want to come and study,” he said. “There is a vision to get more students to move towards technical colleges.” He said technical and vocational education (TVET) colleges now have around 500 000 students with the aim to grow the numbers to 1,5 million in 2030.
“This falls in with the UFS’ Vision 130 to get student numbers at the UFS to around 35 000 by 2034.”
UFS spokesperson Lacea Loader said there will be around 42 771 first-year, senior year, and post-graduate students at the universities’ three campuses – the main campus, south campus, and Qwaqwa campus – this year. In 2023 there were 28 988 students registered to study at the UFS main campus.
Regarding off-campus accommodation, Peterson said they want to uplift the level of engagement with the community.
“We have an accreditation process, but ultimately the responsibility is with the landlord,” he says.
He says the UFS is working towards a Corridor Project to uplift the economic activity in the areas housing students from the UFS and the Central University of Technology (CUT), Free State.
Peterson said there are challenges with building new hostels on campus, since they must be self-funding.
“We rely on the NSFAS for the payment of 64% of our first-year students and 67% of all students. We aim to get more self-paying students. Hostels would have to be built in partnership with a private entity and they would rely on us for guarantees, which we cannot do.”
Peterson also said they commissioned a study on the economic impact of the UFS on Bloemfontein.
