After 1994, the South African government increased higher education funding, with the
aim to enhance its accessibility to deserving students, by utilising the National Student
Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS). This NSFAS funding was intentionally utilised to fund
indigent higher education students from the less fortunate social classes, with the hope
to achieve social justice and poverty alleviation to the targeted young people. The
overall aim was to possibly increase their employability in the labour market. This study
was conducted qualitatively, using a case study research design to explore the lives of
the NSFAS-funded graduates from a low-income, rural, poverty-stricken district in South
Africa, after they had graduated.15 graduates who were funded by NSFAS during their
university years were purposefully sampled to provide answers to our semi structured,
face- to-face interview questions. The study further explored the possible challenges
faced by those graduates pertaining to their livelihoods and found that some of
them struggled to find employment even with their qualifications. The challenges
they continued to face included the not-so-good treatment from their communities; a
challenge which led some of them to face mental health issues. Interestingly, however,
all of the graduates ended up being employed. The study recommends possible
improvement strategies on the disbursement of the NSFAS funds and also makes other
recommendations for policy making on the support of indigent students’ access to higher
education institutions.