Abstract

Conclusion. Recommendations include enhancing financial aid coverage, improving career guidance, addressing academic stressors, and upgrading campus living conditions to support students' overall well-being better. This research is crucial in highlighting areas for enhancement and support mechanisms within higher education.

Keywords: Free education, the basic needs approach, NSFAS, national development, students, welfare.

Acheampong, P., & Kayange, J. J. (2017). University education in Ghana: A privilege or a right?. International Journal of Research, 6(3), 17-25. https://doi.org/10.5861/ijrse.2016.1563

Adanlawo, E. F., & Chaka, M. (2025). Intercultural Business Communication: A Key to Building Inter-Organizational Systems. Journal of Posthumanism, 5(1), 398-409. https://doi.org/10.63332/joph.v5i1.570

Adanlawo, E. F., & Nkomo, N. Y. (2023). Developing entrepreneurship skills among university students through teaching and learning. SSIRC Conference Proceedings, 2023, Page, 961.

Chaka, M., & Adanlawo, E. F. (2024). The role of communication in nation-building: A theoretical framework for South African national unity. Studies in Media and Communication, 12(3), 325-334.  https://doi.org/10.11114/smc.v12i3.7070

Chiramba, O., & Ndofirepi, E. S. (2023). Access and success in higher education: Disadvantaged students’ lived experiences beyond funding hurdles at a Metropolitan South African university. South African Journal of Higher Education, 37(6), 56-75. https://hdl.handle.net/10520/ejc-high_v37_n6_a5

Chung, J. H., & Park, Y. S. (2024). A Study on the Relationship Between Academic Stress and Mental Health Among High School Students in South Korea. Research and Advances in Education, 3(1), 54-65.  https://doi.org/10.56397/RAE.2024.01.06

Crutchfield, R. M., Carpena, A., McCloyn, T. N., & Maguire, J. (2020). The starving student narrative: How normalizing deprivation reinforces basic need insecurity in higher education. Families in Society, 101(3), 409-421. https://doi.org/10.1177/1044389419889525 

du Plessis, A. (2020). The emergence of decentralised centralism in the South African education governance system. Journal of Southern African Studies, 46(1), 165-183. https://doi.org/10.1080/03057070.2020.1705618

Fakunle, O. (2021). Developing a framework for international students’ rationales for studying abroad, beyond economic factors. Policy futures in education, 19(6), 671-690. https://doi.org/10.1177/1478210320965066

Halabieh, H., Hawkins, S., Bernstein, A. E., Lewkowict, S., Unaldi Kamel, B., Fleming, L., & Levitin, D. (2022). The future of higher education: Identifying current educational problems and proposed solutions. Education Sciences, 12(12), 888. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci12120888

Harvey, C., Gibson, A., Maclean, M., & Mueller, F. (2024). Philanthropy and the sustaining of global elite university domination. Organization, 31(3), 433-457. https://doi.org/10.1177/13505084221115842

Heleta, S., & Bagus, T. (2021). Sustainable development goals and higher education: leaving many behind. Higher Education, 81(1), 163-177. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-020-00573-8

Hoyt, J. E. (2023). Student connections: The critical role of student affairs and academic support services in retention efforts. Journal of College Student Retention: Research, Theory & Practice, 25(3), 480-491. https://doi.org/10.1177/1521025121991502

Kendall, N., Goerisch, D., Kim, E. C., Vernon, F., & Wolfgram, M. (2020). The true costs of college. Springer Nature. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-53861-3

Lewin, K. M. (2020). Beyond business as usual: Aid and financing education in Sub Saharan Africa. International journal of educational development, 78, 102247. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijedudev.2020.102247

Lim, W. M. (2025). What is qualitative research? An overview and guidelines. Australasian Marketing Journal, 33(2), 199-229. https://doi.org/10.1177/14413582241264619

Mahomed, N. (2020). Transforming education and training in the post-apartheid period: Revisiting the education, training and labour market axis. In The state, education and equity in post-apartheid South Africa (pp. 105-138). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003073680-5

Maloshonok, N., & Terentev, E. (2017). The mismatch between student educational expectations and realities: Prevalence, causes, and consequences. European Journal of Higher Education, 7(4), 356-372. https://doi.org/10.1080/21568235.2017.1348238

Maphela, B., & Adanlawo, E. F. (2025). Road infrastructure in South Africa: What is missing? Road infrastrucure. International Journal of Business Ecosystem & Strategy (2687-2293), 7(2), 470-478. https://doi.org/10.36096/ijbes.v7i2.738

Martinez, S. M., Esaryk, E. E., Moffat, L., & Ritchie, L. (2021). Redefining basic needs for higher education: It’s more than minimal food and housing according to California university students. American Journal of Health Promotion, 35(6), 818-834. https://doi.org/10.1177/0890117121992295

Masutha, M., & Motala, S. (2023). FREE YET? Progress, setbacks, tensions and the potential futures of South Africa’s free higher education policy: A 6 year “WPR” critical review. South African journal of higher education, 37(6), 193-216. https://dx.doi.org/10.20853/37-6-6198

Matyana, M., Thusi, X., & Xaba, M. R. (2023). An evaluation of the National Student Funding Aid Scheme (NSFAS) policy in South African universities: Implications and challenges. JISR management and social sciences & economics, 21(4), 1-16. https://doi.org/10.31384/jisrmsse/2023.21.4.1

McNair, T. B., Albertine, S., McDonald, N., Major Jr, T., & Cooper, M. A. (2022). Becoming a student-ready college: A new culture of leadership for student success. John Wiley & Sons.

Milton, S. (2021). Higher education and sustainable development goal 16 in fragile and conflict-affected contexts. Higher Education, 81(1), 89-108.  https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-020-00617-z

Mishra, S. (2020). Social networks, social capital, social support and academic success in higher education: A systematic review with a special focus on ‘underrepresented’students. Educational Research Review, 29, 100307. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.edurev.2019.100307

Mistry, R. S., & Elenbaas, L. (2021). It’s all in the family: Parents’ economic worries and youth’s perceptions of financial stress and educational outcomes. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 50(4), 724-738. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-021-01393-4

Mncwango, S. I., & Adanlawo, E. F. (2025). Reducing Youth UnemploymentThrough Entrepreneurship Education Interventions: The Case of South Africa. Educational Process: International Journal, 16, e2025261. https://doi.org/10.22521/edupij.2025.16.261

Moedano, C. M. (2024). Feeling Trapped: Exploring the Lived Psychosocial Experiences of First-Generation College Students (Doctoral dissertation, Bryn Mawr College, Graduate School of Social Work and Social Research). https://repository.brynmawr.edu/dissertations/263

Mofatteh, M. (2020). Risk factors associated with stress, anxiety, and depression among university undergraduate students. AIMS public health, 8(1), 36. https://doi.org/10.3934/publichealth.2021004

Motala, S. (2025). Beyond decolonisation: joining the dots–between the material and the epistemic in higher education in South Africa. Comparative Education, 1-18. https://doi.org/10.1080/03050068.2025.2463808

Newfield, C. (2018). The great mistake: How we wrecked public universities and how we can fix them. Johns Hopkins University Press.

Ngcobo, X. M., Marimuthu, F., & Stainbank, L. J. (2024). Revenue sourcing for the financial sustainability of a university of technology: an exploratory study. Cogent Education, 11(1), 2295173. https://doi.org/10.1080/2331186X.2023.2295173

Nkomo, N. Y., & Adanlawo, E. F. (2024). The effects of education on tobacco consumption: A panel data analysis. Journal of Ecohumanism, 3(3), 308-316.  https://doi.org/10.62754/joe.v3i3.3605

Nkomo, N. Y., & Adanlawo, E. F. (2025). The relationship between smoking and household expenditure: A quantile regressions analysis. E-Journal of Humanities Arts and Social Sciences, 6(2), 136-146. https://doi.org/10.38159/ehass.2025628  

Nowell, L. S., Norris, J. M., White, D. E., & Moules, N. J. (2017). Thematic analysis: Striving to meet the trustworthiness criteria. International journal of qualitative methods, 16(1), 1609406917733847. https://doi.org/10.1177/1609406917733847

Patel, L. (2021). No study without struggle: Confronting settler colonialism in higher education. Beacon Press.

Pitt, A., Oprescu, F., Tapia, G., & Gray, M. (2018). An exploratory study of students’ weekly stress levels and sources of stress during the semester. Active Learning in Higher Education, 19(1), 61-75. https://doi.org/10.1177/1469787417731194

Ramolobe, K. S., Malatji, M., & Mavuso, S. (2024). An evaluation of venue capacity constraints on teaching and learning in higher education. Transformation in Higher Education, 9, 328. https://hdl.handle.net/10520/ejc-thed_v9_n1_a328

Robinson, R. S. (2024). Purposive sampling. In Encyclopedia of quality of life and well-being research (pp. 5645-5647). Cham: Springer International Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-17299-1_2337

Rosenbusch, K. (2020). Technology intervention: rethinking the role of education and faculty in the transformative digital environment. Advances in Developing Human Resources, 22(1), 87-101. https://doi.org/10.1177/1523422319886297

Saroyan, A., & Frenay, M. (Eds.). (2023). Building teaching capacities in higher education: A comprehensive international model. Taylor & Francis.

Schuyler, S. W., Childs, J. R., & Poynton, T. A. (2021). Promoting Success for First-Generation Students of Color: The Importance of Academic, Transitional Adjustment, and Mental Health Supports. Journal of College Access, 6(1), 12-25. https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/jca/vol6/iss1/4

Son-Turan, S. (2021). The HESFS for higher education funding, employment and sustainability. International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education, 22(1), 100-119. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJSHE-10-2019-0310

Urbina‐Garcia, A. (2020). What do we know about university academics' mental health? A systematic literature review. Stress and Health, 36(5), 563-585. https://doi.org/10.1002/smi.2956

Verger, A., Moschetti, M. C., & Fontdevila, C. (2021). How and why policy design matters: understanding the diverging effects of public-private partnerships in education. In Realizing the Abidjan Principles on the right to education (pp. 157-188). Edward Elgar Publishing. https://doi.org/10.4337/9781839106033.00017

Wang, Y. (2024). Research on the Matching Issue between Higher Education and Employment Demand. International Journal of New Developments in Education, 6(5), 204-209. https://doi.org/10.25236/IJNDE.2024.060532

Webb, C. (2021). Liberating the family: Debt, education and racial capitalism in South Africa. Environment and Planning D: Society and Space, 39(1), 85-102. https://doi.org/10.1177/0263775820942522

Weber, J., Skodda, S., Muth, T., Angerer, P., & Loerbroks, A. (2019). Stressors and resources related to academic studies and improvements suggested by medical students: a qualitative study. BMC medical education, 19(1), 312. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-019-1747-z

Xaba, F., Adanlawo, E. F., & Chaka, M. (2025). Exploring higher education policies regulating breastfeeding on university campuses: implications for the wellbeing of women academics. International Journal of Research in Business & Social Science, 14(2), 325-331. https://doi.org/10.20525/ijrbs.v14i2.3897

Xie, J., & Rice, M. F. (2021). Professional and social investment in universal design for learning in higher education: Insights from a faculty development programme. Journal of Further and Higher Education, 45(7), 886-900. https://doi.org/10.1080/0309877X.2020.1827372

Yende, S. J. (2021). Funding opportunities and challenges: A case of South African institutions of higher learning. Journal of Public Administration, 56(1), 70-79. https://hdl.handle.net/10520/ejc-jpad-v56-n1-a6

Yende, S. J., & Mthombeni, Z. M. (2023). The Cost of Equality: Analyzing the Unforeseen Financial Strains of Fee-Free Higher Education in South Africa. E-Journal of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences (EHASS), 4(11), 1380-1390. https://doi.org/10.38159/ehass.20234116%0d