Rankings of universities in South Africa

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Location of South Africa

Rankings of universities in South Africa are largely based on international university rankings, since there are no South African rankings as of yet.

These international university rankings indicate that South Africa's university system is the strongest on the continent: it is home to five of the six highest ranked African universities,[1] including the two campuses consistently ranked as academically strongest in Africa, University of Cape Town and University of the Witwatersrand,[2] which are situated in South Africa's two most prominent cities (Cape Town and Johannesburg, respectively).

Highly cited international university rankings

In part because of the inherent difficulty of ranking complex educational institutions, there are an expanding number of competing international university ranking schemes, each with a different emphasis. Four of the most prominent are the Times Higher Education World University Rankings (most widely accepted), The Centre for World University rankings (CWUR),QS World University Rankings, and the Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU, sometimes referred to as the "Shanghai Rankings").

Times Higher Education World University Rankings

The 2015–2016 edition of the Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings ranked the top South African universities as follows:[3]

SA Rank World Rank University
1 120 University of Cape Town
2 201–250 University of Witwatersrand
3 301–350 Stellenbosch University
4 401-500 University of KwaZulu Natal
5 501-600 University of Pretoria
6 601-800 University of South Africa
7 800+ Others

QS World University Rankings

The 2014-15 edition of the QS World University Rankings ranked the top South African universities as follows:

SA rank World rank University Arts & Humanities Engineering & IT Life Sciences & Medicine Natural Science Social Sciences
1 141[4] University of Cape Town 108 294 100 220 116
2 318[5] University of the Witwatersrand 148 249 204 280 209
3 390[6] Stellenbosch University 237 268 356 283
4 471–480[7] University of Pretoria 283 349 241
5 501–550[8] University of KwaZulu-Natal 366

Previous years' world rankings are as follows (before 2010 the ranking was known as the Times Higher Education-QS World University Rankings):

SA rank University 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010
1 University of Cape Town 257 200 176 146 161æ
2 University of the Witwatersrand 322 282 319 321 360
3 Stellenbosch University
4 University of Pretoria 509 469 501–600 401–500 451–500
5 University of KwaZulu-Natal 484 487 401–500 501–600 501–550

ARWU/Shanghai

The 2015 Academic Ranking of World Universities has ranked the top South African universities as follows:

SA rank University 2014[9] 2013[10] 2012[11] 2010[12] 2009[13] 2008[14] 2007[15] 2006[16] 2005[17] 2004[18] 2003[19]
1 - 2 University of Cape Town 201–300 201–300 201–300 201–300 201–302 201–302 203–304 201–300 203–300 202–301 251–300
1 - 2 University of the Witwatersrand 201–300 301–400 301–400 301–400 303–401 303–401 305–402 301–400 301–400 302–403 451–500
3 - 4 Stellenbosch University 401–500 401–500 401–500 401–500 402–501 402–503 403–510 401–500 401–500 404–502 451–500
3 - 4 University of KwaZulu-Natal 401–500

Note: These are the only ranked South African universities.

Center for World University Rankings (CWUR)

The 2015 edition of CWUR ranked the top South African Universities as follows and represents the most balanced of all the ranking systems:[20]

SA Rank World Rank University
1 149 University of the Witwatersrand
2 248 University of Cape Town
3 306 Stellenbosch University
4 478 University of KwaZulu-Natal
5 678 University of Pretoria

International Rankings for Additional Context

University Ranking by Academic Performance (URAP)

URAP, which is a newer ranking scheme based solely on quantitative measures of academic productivity, includes data for a larger number of global universities, and thus gives some sense of the relative standing of more South African institutions. The 2013-2014 edition of URAP ranked the top South African Universities as follows:[21]

SA Rank World Rank University
1 249 University of Cape Town
2 324 University of the Witwatersrand
3 404 University of KwaZulu-Natal
4 420 Stellenbosch University
5 482 University of Pretoria
6 704 University of Johannesburg
7 915 North-West University
8 954 University of the Western Cape
9 1087 Rhodes University
10 1112 University of the Free State
11 1371 Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University
12 1417 University of South Africa
13 1534 Tshwane University of Technology
14 1791 Cape Peninsula University of Technology
15 1815 University of Fort Hare
16 1839 University of Limpopo
17 1918 Durban University of Technology
18 1903 Mangosuthu University of Technology
19 1928 Vaal University of Technology
20 1936 Central University of Technology

Business-oriented rankings

Several international rankings schemes focus on the placement of graduates in business settings.

Times Higher Education Alma Mater Index

This is another THE ranking which aims to measure the real world success of a University's alumni by ranking Universities according to the number of their graduates that are currently CEOs of Fortune Global 500 companies. The global number one for 2013 is by a considerable margin, Harvard University. The only African Universities that appear on the Global top 100 are the University of the Witwatersrand and the University of Cape Town. The 2013 South African rankings are as follows:[22]

SA Rank World Rank University
1 24 University of the Witwatersrand
2 79 University of Cape Town

Tredence-Emerging Global Employability University Ranking

This is a global ranking of universities by the perceived quality of their graduates by top employers around the world. The only African university in the top 150 is the University of the Witwatersrand. The 2013 ranking is as follows:[23]

SA Rank World Rank University
1 139 University of the Witwatersrand

Bloomberg Billionaire Ranking

This ranks universities according to their popularity among US based billionaires. The only ranked South African university is the University of the Witwatersrand. The 2014 ranking is as follows:[24]

SA Rank World Rank University
1 8 University of the Witwatersrand

Additional context on South African higher educational institutions

2010 Centre for Higher Education Transformation report

A 2010 report by Centre for Higher Education Transformation identified 3 different university clusters in South Africa, grouped according to function. The input variables used to group universities were:

  • Percentage of headcount enrolment in science, engineering and technology
  • Masters and doctoral enrolments
  • Student to staff ratios
  • Permanent staff with doctoral degrees
  • Private and government income
  • Student fee income

The output variables were:

  • Student success rates
  • Graduation rates
  • Weighted research output units per permanent staff member

The Red cluster constitutes the top research-intensive universities. The Blue cluster consists of institutions focused primarily on technical training, while the Green cluster includes institutions which show characteristics of both missions. The clusters are:[25]

Red Cluster Green Cluster Blue Cluster
University of the Witwatersrand University of the Free State Vaal University of Technology
Stellenbosch University University of KwaZulu-Natal Central University of Technology
University of Cape Town North-West University Durban University of Technology
University of Pretoria University of Fort Hare Mangosuthu University of Technology
Rhodes University University of Limpopo Tshwane University of Technology
University of the Western Cape Cape Peninsula University of Technology
University of Johannesburg University of Venda
Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University Walter Sisulu University
University of Zululand

References

  1. http://www.urapcenter.org/2013/region.php?rcode=AF
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http://www.4icu.org/topAfrica/

See also