The movement this week denounced the Fees Commission, saying it would not validate the process through its participation.
Leaders of the movement from the universities of Cape Town, Stellenbosch and Johannesburg and the Tshwane University of Technology said they had not made any submissions to the commission.
This follows the deadline of the commission on Thursday last week, which saw a total 179 written submissions made by stakeholders in the higher education sector.
UCT activist Chumani Maxwele said the government was aware of the movement's demands and that the commission would "not come up with anything new".
TUT's MJ wa Azania said making a submission would affect the credibility of the movement.
"The only submission we will make is a signature on documents declaring we have now acquired free education," Wa Azania said.
In spite of this, 110 written submissions were from individual students. Only two student representative councils made submissions.
University of the Free State SRC president Lindokuhle Ntuli said it had not made a submission but student leaders would meet after the holidays to discuss possibly contributing to the process.
The commission was established earlier this year by the president after protests by #FeesMustFall activists rocked the higher education sector.
Although the commission was finalising its schedule for public hearings, spokesman Andile Tshona said it would accept late submissions, provided arrangements were made beforehand.
Members of the Higher Education Transformation Network met on Tuesday to discuss whether they should make a submission.
Spokesman Ramafala Ramatshosa said free education did not need to be discussed but needed to be implemented as "it was long overdue".
Several universities, including Wits, North West, UCT, Rhodes, Pretoria as well as the Durban University of Technology made submissions separately from those made through representative body Universities South Africa (USAf).
USAf CEO Professor Ahmed Bawa said part of its submission was the call for a well-functioning system that addressed the needs of poor students.
"It should not be that they are struggling to gain access to higher education as education is one of the few ways one is guaranteed success in life," Bawa said.
Another USAf recommendation was a graduate tax for all employed South Africans with degrees that would be earmarked for incoming students, who would go on to pay the tax once they were employed.
Source: The Times via I-Net Bridge
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