University of South Africa

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. UNISA is a mega-university enrolling roughly a third of all higher education students in South Africa – reported figures put total enrolment at well over 300,000, including students from more than 130 countries. It is headquartered at its Muckleneuk campus in Pretoria and operates numerous regional centres across South Africa and beyond to support distance learners. As a distance-learning institution, UNISA offers qualifications from higher certificates through to doctoral level entirely or predominantly through remote study, and is organised into eight colleges plus a College of Graduate Studies and a Graduate School of Business Leadership.

Faculties & Programmes

College of Accounting Sciences – School of Accountancy: Auditing, Financial Accounting, Management Accounting, Taxation; Centre for Accounting Studies
College of Agriculture & Environmental Sciences – School of Agriculture and Life Sciences: Agriculture and Animal Health, Life and Consumer Sciences (biochemistry, biotechnology, genetics, microbiology, food science, nutrition); School of Ecological and Human Sustainability: Geography, Environmental Sciences
College of Economic & Management Sciences – Department of Decision Sciences, Department of Economics, Department of Finance, Risk Management and Banking, Department of Business Management, Department of Human Resource Management, Department of Industrial and Organisational Psychology, Department of Marketing and Retail, Department of Applied Management, Department of Public Administration and Management, Department of Operations Management; School of Management Sciences; School of Public and Operations Management; School of Economic and Financial Sciences
College of Education – Adult, Community and Continuing Education, Educational Foundations, Psychology of Education, Inclusive Education, Educational Leadership and Management, Mathematics Education, Science and Technology Education, Language Education Arts and Culture, Curriculum and Instructional Studies, Early Childhood Education
College of Human Sciences – School of Arts: African Languages, Afrikaans and Theory of Literature, Art and Music, Communication Science, English Studies, Information Science, Linguistics and Modern Languages; School of Humanities: Anthropology and Archaeology, Biblical and Ancient Studies, Christian Spirituality/Church History/Missiology, History, Philosophy/Practical/Systematic Theology, Religious Studies and Arabic; School of Social Sciences: Development Studies, Gender and Sexuality Studies, Health Studies, Political Sciences, Psychology, Social Work, Sociology
College of Law – School of Law: Criminal and Procedural Law, Jurisprudence, Mercantile Law, Private Law, Public/Constitutional/International Law; School of Criminal Justice: Criminology and Security Science, Corrections Management, Police Practice
College of Science, Engineering & Technology – School of Science (four departments); School of Engineering: Chemical, Civil, Electrical, Industrial, Mechanical and Mining Engineering (National Diploma/BTech level programmes); School of Computing: undergraduate to doctoral computing qualifications
College of Graduate Studies – postgraduate and interdisciplinary research support across all colleges
Graduate School of Business Leadership (SBL) – MBA and business leadership postgraduate programmes; Thabo Mbeki African School of Public and International Affairs – public and international affairs programmes

Bursaries That May Apply Here

Based on published eligibility criteria mentioning this institution or its type (public university/university of technology) — always confirm current eligibility directly with the bursary provider before applying.