The South African Speech-Language-Hearing Association (SASLHA) is the professional body for speech-language therapists and audiologists in South Africa. Through its Myrtle L Aron Bursary Fund, SASLHA puts money behind students who are close to qualifying in these two professions. The award is small in reach, since SASLHA describes it as a bursary for a single student each year, but competition is limited to a narrow group of senior students.
Third- and fourth-year students only
SASLHA does not fund first-years or school leavers. To be considered, you must:
- be studying speech-language therapy, audiology, or the combined degree at any South African university that offers it;
- have passed your second or third year, so that you are entering the third- or fourth-year curriculum;
- be able to show both academic merit and financial need, because SASLHA weighs the two together;
- be a SASLHA member.
Join SASLHA first: student membership costs nothing
Membership is the step students most often leave too late. SASLHA offers free membership to undergraduates in speech-language therapy, audiology and related fields at South African institutions, and you sign up through the SASLHA student membership application. Do it well before the bursary window opens so your membership is active when you apply.
Membership brings more than bursary eligibility. Student members can join SASLHA’s Student Peer Support Group, and undergraduates can ask SASLHA to circulate their research surveys to its members free of charge, which helps with final-year research projects.
When SASLHA’s next bursary round opens
SASLHA runs the bursary every year, but its students page on the SASLHA website currently shows applications as closed, without a date for the coming round. SASLHA also does not publish the bursary amount or a document checklist on that page. When the next call opens, the details and application method should appear on the same students page. Until then, you can ask SASLHA directly at admin@saslha.co.za.
Other health-science funding to combine with SASLHA’s
One bursary from a professional association rarely covers a full year, so look wider as well. The medical and health bursaries hub collects funders across the health sciences, and the Pharmaceutical Society of South Africa bursary shows how another professional body supports its student members.