By Charmaine Ndlela
The University of Pretoria (UP) has launched a R50 million fundraising campaign aimed at helping about 1,500 graduates access qualifications they have already earned but cannot receive because of outstanding historical debt.
The three-year Degrees Delivered campaign will run from 2026 to 2028 and will focus on qualifying graduates who have completed the academic requirements for their first undergraduate qualifications.
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UP Vice-Chancellor and Principal Professor Francis Petersen said the initiative sought to remove the final financial barrier facing graduates who had successfully completed their studies.
“The Degrees Delivered campaign addresses a simple but deeply painful reality. We have graduates who have completed everything required for their qualifications. They have studied, passed and earned their degrees, but they cannot receive their degree certificates because of outstanding historical debt,” Petersen said.
The university said the campaign formed part of its Thrive UP 2038 strategy, which seeks to build a human-centred institution, produce future-ready graduates and create meaningful social impact.
According to Deidré Adams, UP’s Deputy Director of Fundraising and Alumni Relations, the campaign will focus mainly on graduates affected by financial hardship in the years following the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Our campaign focuses on just the last few years, especially since COVID. We would like to help 1,500 graduates access their degrees,” Adams told media on Monday.
She said demand for assistance was expected to exceed the funding available, requiring the university to apply strict eligibility requirements.
“We’ve got very strict criteria. We have a committee assessing the eligibility of graduates who will qualify for the funding,” she said.
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The university said qualifying beneficiaries would be identified through an assessment process that considers their socio-economic circumstances and other predetermined criteria.
The campaign will initially prioritise South African graduates across UP’s nine faculties who have completed undergraduate qualifications, although international graduates will not automatically be excluded.
“We’re looking at only undergraduate degrees because without an undergraduate degree, you’re an unemployed graduate. We’re also prioritising South African students at this time. It doesn’t mean international students are excluded, but we’ll start with South Africans,” Adams said.
She said the campaign would focus on graduates whose outstanding debt was considered manageable and whose only remaining obstacle was financial.
“We’re looking at graduates who have a reasonable amount of debt where the final hurdle is not academic, it’s simply financial. This campaign is trying to remove that last barrier,” she said.
Unlike fundraising initiatives that finance future infrastructure or academic programmes, Degrees Delivered is intended to have an immediate effect by allowing beneficiaries to obtain their certificates, apply for jobs, pursue postgraduate studies and register with professional bodies.
A Comrades Marathon fundraising drive held in June attracted more than 225 donors and raised more than R106,000 towards the campaign.
UP is also seeking support from alumni, businesses, donors, staff and other institutional partners as it works towards the R50 million target.
The next fundraising event is scheduled for 23 July, when the university will host an alumni wine-tasting and gourmet dining evening in partnership with Zoetendal Vineyards and River Estate.
Proceeds from ticket sales and a live auction will go towards Degrees Delivered.
Petersen said the campaign represented a collective investment in the country’s graduates and its future workforce.
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“Today, I am making a personal pledge of financial support to both the Degrees Delivered campaign and the Vice-Chancellor and Principal’s Scholarship Fund. I invite our partners in business, our alumni, our staff and our wider community to join us. Because when we act together, we do more than fund education. We change lives and futures,” he said.
UP employees will also be able to contribute through a payroll-giving initiative, allowing them to make monthly donations towards settling qualifying graduates’ outstanding debt.
The Economic Freedom Fighters welcomed the campaign but warned that private donations and philanthropy could not provide a lasting answer to the country’s historical student debt crisis.
In a statement issued on Sunday, EFF elections spokesperson Thembi Msane said the initiative would provide immediate relief to some graduates, but added that responsibility for resolving historical debt should rest with the state.
“Thousands of graduates across South Africa remain locked out of the economy despite having fulfilled every academic requirement expected of them. This represents not only an injustice to individual graduates but also a loss to the country’s economy, which is deprived of skilled young professionals at a time of record youth unemployment,” Msane said.
The EFF reiterated its support for the Student Debt Relief Bill introduced by party MP Sihle Lonzi in 2025.
The proposed legislation seeks to establish a permanent national mechanism to settle qualifying historical student debt and prevent graduates from being denied access to their qualifications because of financial hardship.
“South Africa requires a permanent and sustainable solution that guarantees no graduate is ever denied their qualification because of poverty,” she said.
