Study in South Africa

South Africa's rapidly changing higher education system. The Guide is published by the International Education Association of South Africa (IEASA) in association with Higher Education South Africa (HESA). The new edition of Study South Africa Guide and our website www.studysa.co.za have been revised and updated to provide accurate information on each university in South Africa.

Since 1994 the South African tertiary education sector has undergone major transformation and restructuring process geared to meet the higher education needs of the 21st century. At the same time, South Africa is becoming the continental leader in the provision of high quality tertiary education relevant to the demands of a rapidly globalising, competitive, information-driven world.

South Africa is one of the world's most exiting places to be a student. It is a country at the cutting edge of change, where high-tech solutions, based on in-depth research, are being developed in response to some of the world's most pressing problems and challenges.

This website offers you an excellent introduction to the stimulating and vibrant world of higher education in South Africa, providing an authoritative overview of the important changes taking place in higher education, and connecting you to all the universities in the country.

South Africa in the world

World university rankings are dominated by institutions in wealthy countries, particularly in Europe and the United States. However, South African universities stand their own among many institutions in wealthy country and all middle-income and developing countries, and they dominate in Africa, according to the Academic Ranking of World Universities.

Four out of South Africa’s 23 universities – or 17% of institutions – were placed in the Top 500 globally by the 2006 Academic Ranking of World Universities. The institutions are the University of Cape Town (ranked 252), University of the Witwatersrand (396), University of KwaZulu-Natal (470) and University of Pretoria (481). The only other ranked African institution was the University of Cairo in Egypt, which was placed 402 out of 500.

Academic Ranking of World Universities – Africa rankings

Rank	Country	University
252	South Africa	University of Cape Town
396	South Africa	University of the Witwatersrand
402	Eqypt	University of Cairo
470	South Africa	University of KwaZulu-Natal
481	South Africa	University of Pretoria

South Africa in Africa

In all university ranking exercises, South African institutions rate the highest in Africa.

In the latest Webometrics Ranking of World Universities, which focuses on internet presence as an indicator of a wide range of academic activities, there are 10 South African universities in the top dozen in Africa and one university each from Egypt and Reunion (France). In the Top 25 of the Webometrics ranking there are 12 universities from South Africa, three from Egypt, two from Kenya and one each from Reunion, Tanzania, Zimbabwe, Senegal, Namibia, Mauritius, Morocco and Mozambique.

While it has been pointed out that the Webometrics system can distort the ratings of quality universities with a weak web presence, there is also reasonable correlation between this and other systems and it is the only comprehensive rating system to offer a breakdown for Africa. Thus the Africa list has some comparative value.

Table 3: Webometrics Ranking of World Universities – Africa Top 25

Rank	Country	University
1	South Africa	University of Cape Town
2	South Africa	Rhodes University
3	South Africa	University of Pretoria
4	South Africa	Stellenbosch University
5	South Africa	University of the Witwatersrand
6	South Africa	University of the Western Cape
7	South Africa	University of South Africa
8	South Africa	University of KwaZulu-Natal
9	Eqypt	American University in Cairo
10	Reunion	Universite de la Reunion
11	South Africa	University of the Free Sate
12	South Africa	Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University
13	Tanzania	University of Dar es Salaam
14	Zimbabwe	University of Zimbabwe
15	Senegal	Universite Cheikh Anta Diop de Dakar
16	Namibia	University of Namibia
17	Mauritius	University of Mauritius
18	Egypt	Cairo University
19	South Africa	University of Johannesburg
20	Egypt	Arab Academy for Science and Technology
21	Kenya	Egerton University
22	Morocco	Universidade Cadi Ayyad
23	Mozambique	Universidade Eduardo Mondlane
24	Kenya	University of Nairobi