In 2019, in response to the new funding of Higher Education by the South African government, the Canon Collins Thekgo Bursary has been restructured from providing registration fees for first-year students to providing bursaries that alleviate undergraduate students’ debt. Students who have completed their undergraduate/Honours studies, but their degree certificates/academic records have been withheld due to outstanding debt owed to the university, can apply for debt relief of up to R20,000 in the following disciplines:

• Languages and Literature
• Media Studies
• Gender Studies
• Education
• Arts (Digital Arts, Drama/Performance Studies, Visual Arts/Fine Arts, History of Art, Film and Television Studies, Music)

In 2020 these bursaries will be awarded to completed undergraduate students who have already missed at least one graduation and/or were not able to receive the degree certificate due to outstanding debt of up to R20,000 with any public university in South Africa.

Are you eligible?
You must:

• be a national of, or have refugee status in any African country.
• have completed undergraduate studies (three years or four year Bachelor or Honours degree) in a degree programme within Thekgo’s focus disciplines in the Humanities, listed above, at any public university in South Africa.
• have missed one graduation already and/or was not able to receive the degree due to outstanding debt not exceeding R20,000 owed to the university.
• demonstrate academic merit.
• demonstrate financial need.

What we offer
We usually dispense about 5-7 bursaries per year depending on the number of applicants. The selection committee decides on the actual amount that will be awarded to individual successful applicants.