{"id":826277,"date":"2025-06-02T06:01:00","date_gmt":"2025-06-02T04:01:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=826277"},"modified":"2025-06-02T06:27:58","modified_gmt":"2025-06-02T04:27:58","slug":"the-12-best-universities-in-south-africa-with-three-in-the-global-top-500","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/lifestyle\/826277\/the-12-best-universities-in-south-africa-with-three-in-the-global-top-500\/","title":{"rendered":"The 12 best universities in South Africa – with three in the global top 500"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Only three South African universities have ranked among the top 500 tertiary institutions in the world in the latest\u00a0Center for World University Rankings<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0(CWUR) for 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is one fewer than in 2024, with another local public university falling out of the global 2,000 ranking, leaving only 12 to be ranked. The Tshwane University of Technology dropped out of the ranking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The twelve universities that cracked the list in 2025 are once again led by the University of Cape Town, with Wits and Stellenbosch University craching the top 500.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, the CWUR flagged concerns around South African universities as they appear to be struggling to compete with their global rivals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The group noted that nine of the 12 ranked universites all slipped down the global list, largely due to a decline in research performance amid intensified global competition from well-funded rivals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

University of Cape Town fell four spots to 275th globally. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The CWUR noted declines in the quality of education and research indicators, but improvements in the employability indicator. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wits dropped one place to 292nd, while Stellenbosch University fell eighteen spots to 458th \u2013 ahead of University of KwaZulu-Natal at 505th (from 483rd in 2024) and University of Pretoria in 557th position. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The South African top ten is rounded out by the University of Johannesburg (607), North-West University (860), University of the Free State (1141), University of Western Cape (1189), and University of South Africa (1224).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Dr Nadim Mahassen, President of the Centre for World University Rankings, South Africa is well represented in the global listing, but the slide among the top institutes is alarming.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said the weakening research performance and limited financial backing from the South African government need to be addressed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhile several countries are placing the development of education and science high on their agenda, South Africa is struggling to keep pace,” he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Without stronger funding and strategic planning, South Africa risks falling further behind in the rapidly evolving global academic landscape.\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

More positively, three universities saw improvements in the ranking, including the University of Pretoria, North-West University and the University of South Africa (Unisa).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

University<\/th>2025 rank<\/th>2024 rank<\/th>Score<\/th><\/tr><\/thead>
University of Cape Town<\/td>275<\/strong><\/mark><\/td>271<\/td>77.4<\/td><\/tr>
University of the Witwatersrand<\/td>292<\/strong><\/mark><\/td>291<\/td>77.1<\/td><\/tr>
Stellenbosch University<\/td>458<\/strong><\/mark><\/td>440<\/td>74.9<\/td><\/tr>
University of KwaZulu-Natal<\/td>505<\/strong><\/mark><\/td>483<\/td>74.4<\/td><\/tr>
University of Pretoria<\/td>557<\/strong><\/mark><\/td>624<\/td>73.9<\/td><\/tr>
University of Johannesburg<\/td>607<\/strong><\/mark><\/td>538<\/td>73.4<\/td><\/tr>
North-West University<\/td>860<\/strong><\/mark><\/td>869<\/td>71.5<\/td><\/tr>
University of the Free State<\/td>1141<\/strong><\/mark><\/td>1127<\/td>69.8<\/td><\/tr>
University of Western Cape<\/td>1189<\/strong><\/mark><\/td>1154<\/td>69.6<\/td><\/tr>
University of South Africa<\/td>1224<\/strong><\/mark><\/td>1293<\/td>69.4<\/td><\/tr>
Rhodes University<\/td>1336<\/strong><\/mark><\/td>1321<\/td>68.9<\/td><\/tr>
Nelson Mandela University<\/td>1716<\/strong><\/mark><\/td>1707<\/td>67.3<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Global universities under strain<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

South African universities are not alone in facing the pressure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Mahassen, even though the United States still boasts the top universities in the world, the decline of the vast majority of its higher education institutions are of concern.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In contrast, Chinese universities are reaping the rewards of years of generous financial support from the government.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAmerican institutions are grappling with slashed federal funding and disputes over academic freedom and free speech. With the United States surpassed by China as the country with the most representatives in the rankings, its reputation in the global higher education sector is under serious threat,” Mahassen said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The sharp decline of US universities parallels that of institutions in Japan, France, and Germany, while UK and Russian universities have fared only slightly better. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“With the extraordinary rise of Chinese institutions, universities in the Western world cannot afford to stand still and rest on their laurels,” Mahassen said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The CWUR ranking is one of the largest academic rankings of global universities, tracking over 74 million data points.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It places a key focus on research, which accounts for 40% of the final score. This tracks the number of research articles published by the university, how many are published in top-tier journals, and how many are cited (ie, influence).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Quality of education and employability are other key factors, accounting for 25% each. These measure the academic and professional success of alumni. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Faculty members with top distinctions in the field account for the remaining 10% of the score.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Over 21,400 institutions were analysed from 94 countries, with only the top 2000 making the global list.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Centre for World University Rankings has published its global list for 2025, with South African institutions showing significant strain.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":775415,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9876],"tags":[22698,6896,8389,15290],"class_list":["post-826277","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lifestyle","tag-center-for-world-university-rankings","tag-stellenbosch-university","tag-university-of-cape-town","tag-university-of-the-witwatersrand"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/826277","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=826277"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/826277\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":826404,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/826277\/revisions\/826404"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/775415"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=826277"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=826277"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=826277"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}