University fees 2025: how much it costs to study in South Africa

There are over 20 public universities in South Africa, and tuition fees vary depending on the university’s policy, the type of study, and the length of the course.

According to Times Higher Education’s latest ranking, 14 of these local universities are also listed among the world’s top tertiary institutions for 2024.

The ranking looks into an institution’s global performance and judges research-intensive universities, with the full list comprising 2,100 universities across 108 countries and regions.

It is based on 18 calibrated performance indicators that measure an institution’s performance across five areas: teaching, research environment, research quality, industry, and international outlook.

The ranking showed the University of Oxford took the top spot for a record-breaking ninth consecutive year, beating Harvard University’s previous record of eight consecutive years at the number one spot from 2004 to 2011.

The University of Cape Town continued its streak as the top-rated university in the country, though it fell down the global rankings, slipping to 180th from 167th before.

All universities outside the top 300 are not ranked individually but rather fall into ranges. For local universities that remained in the same range, it is difficult to tell whether the slipped or improved their positioning in the overall ranking.

However, many of South Africa’s universities fell out of their ranges, slipping significantly.

The University of Pretoria slipped out of the 501-600 range into the 601-800 range, while North West University fell out of that range into the 801-1000 range.

Notably, the two new entries for South Africa were Sefako Makgatho Health Sciences University (ranking in the 1201-1500 range) and the University of Fort Hare (ranking outside of the top 1500).

Studying at local universities is the most affordable option for South Africans looking for quality education. However, for those who have the means, the most popular countries to study in include the USA, the UK, Australia, and Germany, as reported by the education platform Erudera.

Overseas, the living costs alone cost, on average, upwards of R200,000 per annum, whereas students who choose local institutions typically pay almost half that, which includes tuition and residence.

Fees in 2025

BusinessTech looked at the cost of a year’s study at universities around the country.

The fees apply to first-year studies for 2025 and only act as an approximation; other costs, such as textbooks, travel, and residency, are excluded.

The fees sourced include the following undergraduate degrees:

• Bachelor of Commerce (BCom);
• Bachelor of Arts (BA);
• Bachelor of Science (BSc);
• Bachelor of Law (LLB, undergraduate);
• Bachelor of Science/Engineering (BEng).

Fees are typically charged per module needed to make up the credits of a given degree. Therefore, the fees below give a broader idea of the cost of a single year of study rather than a comprehensive overview.

A Bachelor of Science in Engineering is featured for institutions where no Bachelor of Engineering is offered.