Tuition fees for SA universities compared

 ·26 Mar 2014
University of Cape Town

Five South African universities feature in the list of top 100 universities in the Brics and emerging markets.

This is according to the annual Times Higher Education Brics and Emerging Markets Rankings for 2014.

BusinessTech looks at the 2014 tuition fees at these universities, and how they compare to some of the top institutions, for 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).

Top South African universities

# University Province
3 University of Cape Town Western Cape
15 University of the Witwatersrand Gauteng
21 Stellenbosch University Western Cape
45 University of Kwa-Zulu Natal Kwa-Zulu Natal
78 University of Pretoria Gauteng

Tuition fees

University BCom BA BSc LLB BEng
University of Cape Town R44,000 – R56,000
R41,500 R45,000 R42,000 R46,500 – R48,000
University of the Witwatersrand R37,400 – R39,130 R30,580 – R39,380 R37,340 R29,500 R36,500 – R45,050
Stellenbosch University R29,093 R30,125 R37,218 R36,074 R40,637
University of Pretoria R34,720 – R39,610 R27,750 – R32,500 R35,260 – R44,740 R31,800 R35,270 – R43,670
University of Kwa-Zulu Natal R31,226 R36,557 R27,619 – R35,358 R29,098 R34,798 – R35,101

Accommodation

Typical residence accommodation at Stellenbosch University amounts to between R28,690 – R37,850 for a single, excluding meals, with double room occupants paying about R22,790.

At UP,  residence accommodation starts at R29,700 for a single room, going up to R48,700, while a double room costs between R27,500 – R29,700 in 2014.

According to Bloomberg, Yale University’s undergraduate tuition, room and board would cost $59,800 in 2014-2015, with tuition at $45,800.

Global universities

In September 2013, QS, a global career and education network, provided a list of ‘Tuition Fees at the World’s Top Universities’ listing the University of Chicago at $45,324. It put Yale University second at $43,100, with Stanford University at $42,690 annually.

Top UK universities were far cheaper, with Oxford and Cambridge costing about $14,000 each.

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