Notable Universities in South Africa

A closer look at 20 universities in South Africa — founding, campus language, and academic strengths.

School	City	Type	Founded	Language	Notable Programs
Rhodes University	Makhanda	Public	1904	English	Environmental SciencePharmacyJournalism
University of Cape Town	Cape Town	Public	1829	English	Health SciencesLawEngineering
University of South Africa	Pretoria	Public	1873	English	Business AdministrationLawEducation
University of the Free State	Bloemfontein	Public	1904	English	Health SciencesLawAgriculture
University of Pretoria	Pretoria	Public	1908	English	Veterinary ScienceEngineeringLaw
University of Fort Hare	Alice	Public	1916	English	HumanitiesSocial SciencesEducation
University of Stellenbosch	Stellenbosch	Public	1918	Afrikaans, English	EngineeringAgricultural SciencesHealth Sciences
University of Witwatersrand	Johannesburg	Public	1922	English	MedicineEngineeringLaw
University of Limpopo	Polokwane	Public	1959	English	MedicineHealth SciencesAgriculture
University of the Western Cape	Bellville, Cape Town	Public	1959	English	LawDentistryPublic Health
University of Zululand	Empangeni	Public	1960	English	EducationAgricultureLaw
Vaal University of Technology	Vanderbijlpark	Public	1966	English	EngineeringInformation TechnologyManagement Sciences
Mangosuthu Univerisity of Technology	Durban	Public	1979	English	Civil EngineeringElectrical EngineeringMechanical Engineering
Central University of Technology	Bloemfontein	Public	1981	English	EngineeringHealth SciencesManagement Sciences
University of Venda	Thohoyandou	Public	1982	English	AgricultureEnvironmental SciencesLaw
American International School of Cape Town	Cape Town	Private	1997	English	American CurriculumCollege PreparatorySTEM Education
Monash Univerisity South Africa	Johannesburg	Private	2001	English	Business AdministrationInformation TechnologySocial Sciences
Durban University of Technology	Durban	Public	2002	English	EngineeringInformation TechnologyApplied Sciences
North-West Univeristy	Potchefstroom	Public	2004	English, Afrikaans	Health SciencesEngineeringNatural Sciences
North-West University	Potchefstroom	Public	2004	English, Afrikaans, Setswana	Health SciencesEngineeringAgriculture