Institutions – SA Education Hub

University Accredited Not Confirmed

University of Fort Hare

Eastern Cape

The University of Fort Hare was established in 1916 as the South African Native College at Alice, Eastern Cape, and is one of Africa’s most historically significant institutions of higher learning. From 1916 to 1959 it was the primary site of higher education for black South Africans and students from across the continent, producing a remarkable roster of anti-colonial and anti-apartheid leaders including Nelson Mandela, Oliver Tambo, Govan Mbeki, Desmond Tutu and Robert Sobukwe (South Africa), as well as Robert Mugabe (Zimbabwe), Kenneth Kaunda (Zambia), Julius Nyerere (Tanzania) and Seretse Khama (Botswana) — leading Tambo to describe it as representing “Oxford and Cambridge, Harvard and Yale, all rolled into one.” Today it is a public university with campuses in Alice (main), Bhisho and East London, enrolling roughly 13,000–15,000 students across six faculties.

University Accredited Not Confirmed

University of the Free State

Free State

The University of the Free State (UFS) was founded in 1904 as Grey College School (later Grey University College) in Bloemfontein, initially with just six students. It became an independent Afrikaans-medium university in 1950 as the University of the Orange Free State, and was renamed the University of the Free State in 2001 as it transitioned to a dual/multi-medium institution.

University Accredited Not Confirmed

University of Limpopo

Limpopo

The University of Limpopo traces its roots to the University College of the North (nicknamed ‘Turfloop’), established on 1 August 1959 near Polokwane under apartheid-era legislation for Black South African students; it became the University of the North in 1970. In 2005 it merged with the Medical University of Southern Africa (MEDUNSA) to form the University of Limpopo, before the MEDUNSA campus split off in 2015 to become Sefako Makgatho Health Sciences University.

University Accredited Not Confirmed

North-West University

North West

North-West University (NWU) was formed on 1 January 2004 through the merger of the Potchefstroom University for Christian Higher Education (dating back to 1869) and the University of North-West (formerly the University of Bophuthatswana). It is a public university operating as a unified multi-campus institution with a single council, chancellor, vice-chancellor and senate, spread across three campuses: Potchefstroom (main campus, North West province), Mahikeng (North West province), and Vanderbijlpark (Gauteng).

University Accredited Not Confirmed

Rhodes University

Eastern Cape

Rhodes University was founded by Act of Parliament on 31 May 1904 as Rhodes University College, funded via the Cecil John Rhodes Trust, opening with about 50 students; it became a constituent college of the University of South Africa in 1918 before gaining full independent university status in 1951. It is a smaller, research-intensive public university located in Makhanda (formerly Grahamstown), Eastern Cape, with a comparatively small enrolment of roughly 7,000 students (about 5,400 undergraduate and 1,600 postgraduate), including a notably high proportion (over 18%) of international students from more than 50 countries.

University Accredited Not Confirmed

Sefako Makgatho Health Sciences University

Gauteng

Sefako Makgatho Health Sciences University (SMU) traces its origins to the Medical University of South Africa (MEDUNSA), established in 1976 as the Medunsa campus of the University of the North to train Black health professionals during apartheid. Following a 2011 review recommendation, the Medunsa campus was separated from the University of Limpopo and formally promulgated as an independent public university, SMU, in May 2014 (operational from January 2015).

University Accredited Not Confirmed

University of the Western Cape

Western Cape

The University of the Western Cape (UWC) was founded in 1959 as a University College under apartheid legislation, originally created to provide higher education for people classified as “Coloured.” It admitted its first cohort of 166 students in 1960, became an autonomous university in 1984, and played a significant role in the anti-apartheid struggle, earning a reputation as an “intellectual home of the left.” It gained its present configuration in 2004 following the incorporation of the University of Stellenbosch’s School of Dentistry. UWC is a public university with more than 23,000 students (around 15,840 undergraduate and 6,160 postgraduate) and about 2,400 academic, professional and support staff.

University Accredited Not Confirmed

University of Johannesburg

Gauteng

The University of Johannesburg (UJ) was established on 1 January 2005 through the merger of Rand Afrikaans University, Technikon Witwatersrand, and the Soweto and East Rand campuses of Vista University — a consolidation undertaken as part of post-apartheid restructuring of South African higher education, bringing together a traditional university, a technikon and a historically black institution. It is a public comprehensive university (offering both traditional academic and vocationally-oriented qualifications) spread across four campuses in Johannesburg: Auckland Park Kingsway, Auckland Park Bunting Road, Doornfontein, and Soweto.

University Accredited Not Confirmed

Nelson Mandela University

Eastern Cape

Nelson Mandela University traces its origins to 1882 (the Port Elizabeth Art School) and was formed in its current shape in January 2005 through the merger of the University of Port Elizabeth, Port Elizabeth Technikon, and the Port Elizabeth campus of Vista University. Originally named Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, it was renamed Nelson Mandela University on 20 July 2017.

University Accredited Not Confirmed

University of South Africa

Gauteng

UNISA traces its history to 1873, when the University of the Cape of Good Hope was established as an examining body; it was renamed the University of South Africa in 1916 and relocated to Pretoria in 1918. In 1946 it became one of the first universities in the world to teach exclusively through distance education, and it now describes itself as the longest-standing dedicated distance-education university globally and the largest open distance learning (ODL) institution in Africa.