Rankings of universities in South Africa

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
1120University of Cape Town
2201–250University of Witwatersrand
3301–350Stellenbosch University
4401-500University of KwaZulu Natal
5501-600University of Pretoria
6601-800University of South Africa
7800+Others

QS World University Rankings

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

SA rankWorld rank University Arts & Humanities Engineering & IT Life Sciences & Medicine Natural Science Social Sciences
1141[4]University of Cape Town108294100220116
2318[5]University of the Witwatersrand148249204280209
3390[6]Stellenbosch University237—268356283
4471–480[7]University of Pretoria283—349—241
5501–550[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 rankUniversity 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010
1 University of Cape Town257 200 176 146 161æ
2 University of the Witwatersrand322 282 319 321 360
3 Stellenbosch University—————
4 University of Pretoria509 469 501–600 401–500 451–500
5 University of KwaZulu-Natal484 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 rankUniversity 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 Witwatersrand201–300 301–400 301–400 301–400 303–401 303–401 305–402 301–400 301–400 302–403 451–500
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
1149University of the Witwatersrand
2248University of Cape Town
3306Stellenbosch University
4478University of KwaZulu-Natal
5678University 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
1249University of Cape Town
2324University of the Witwatersrand
3404University of KwaZulu-Natal
4420Stellenbosch University
5482University of Pretoria
6704University of Johannesburg
7915North-West University
8954University of the Western Cape
91087Rhodes University
101112University of the Free State
111371Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University
121417University of South Africa
131534Tshwane University of Technology
141791Cape Peninsula University of Technology
151815University of Fort Hare
161839University of Limpopo
171918Durban University of Technology
181903Mangosuthu University of Technology
191928Vaal University of Technology
201936Central 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
124University of the Witwatersrand
279University 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
1139University 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
18University 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:

The output variables were:

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
  2. ↑ "World Rankings - Africa 2013-14". University Ranings. Times Higher Education. Retrieved 18 October 2013.
  3. ↑ "World University Rankings 2015-16". University Rankings. Times Higher Education. Retrieved 18 October 2013.
  4. ↑ "University of Cape Town". Top Universities. QS Quacquarelli Symonds. 10 September 2013. Retrieved 10 September 2013.
  5. ↑ "University of Johannesburg". Top Universities. QS Quacquarelli Symonds. Retrieved 10 September 2013.
  6. ↑ "University of Stellenbosch". Top Universities. QS Quacquarelli Symonds. Retrieved 10 September 2013.
  7. ↑ "University of Pretoria". Top Universities. QS Quacquarelli Symonds. Retrieved 10 September 2013.
  8. ↑ "University of KwaZulu-Natal". Top Universities. QS Quacquarelli Symonds. Retrieved 20 September 2011.
  9. ↑ "South Africa Universities in Top 500 - 2014". Academic Ranking of World Universities. Retrieved 15 August 2014.
  10. ↑ "South Africa Universities in Top 500 - 2013". Academic Ranking of World Universities. Retrieved 29 November 2013.
  11. ↑ "South Africa Universities in Top 500 - 2010". Academic Ranking of World Universities. Retrieved 15 September 2010.
  12. ↑ "South Africa Universities in Top 500 - 2010". Academic Ranking of World Universities. Retrieved 15 September 2010.
  13. ↑ "South Africa Universities in Top 500 - 2009". Academic Ranking of World Universities. Retrieved 26 February 2010.
  14. ↑ "South Africa Universities in Top 500 - 2008". Academic Ranking of World Universities. Retrieved 26 February 2010.
  15. ↑ "South Africa Universities in Top 500 - 2007". Academic Ranking of World Universities. Retrieved 26 February 2010.
  16. ↑ "South Africa Universities in Top 500 - 2006". Academic Ranking of World Universities. Retrieved 26 February 2010.
  17. ↑ "South Africa Universities in Top 500 - 2005". Academic Ranking of World Universities. Retrieved 26 February 2010.
  18. ↑ "ARWU 2004". Academic Ranking of World Universities. Retrieved 26 February 2010.
  19. ↑ "ARWU 2003". Academic Ranking of World Universities. Retrieved 26 February 2010.
  20. ↑ "CWUR 2014 - South Africa". Top Universities. Center for World University Rankings. Retrieved 15 August 2014.
  21. ↑ "URAP - University Ranking by Academic Performance". Top Universities. Informatics Institute of Middle East Technical University. Retrieved 9 October 2014.
  22. ↑ "THE Alma Mater Index:Global Executives 2013". University Rankings. Times Higher Education. Retrieved 11 September 2013.
  23. ↑ "Global Employability University Ranking 2013". University Ranings. Emerging. Retrieved 25 February 2014.
  24. ↑ "Bloomberg Best (and Worst)". University Rankings. Bloomberg. Retrieved 23 December 2014.
  25. ↑ McGregor, Karen (23 May 2010). "SOUTH AFRICA: New university clusters emerge". University World News. Retrieved 11 June 2010.

http://www.4icu.org/topAfrica/

See also

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