College SA

College SA is a private distance and online college that was known as Optimi College until 2026, when the group merged its Optimi College and IT Academy brands under the College SA name. The legal entity behind it is still Optimi College (Pty) Ltd, and the college is provisionally registered with the Department of Higher Education and Training. It forms part of the Optimi Group, the same family of companies that owns the home education brand Impaq, and its roots go back to 1996, when the business began as Media Works; the College SA brand itself dates from 2007 and the group acquired it in 2018.

Teaching happens at a distance or online, not in a classroom. The college states that it does not run face-to-face classes: distance students receive study material by courier, online students work through a learning platform, and everyone studies from home at their own pace with tutor support. The only exception the site mentions is a small number of information technology classes at a Bellville campus in Cape Town. The head office is in Doringkloof, Centurion.

The programmes are grouped into a School of Commerce, a School of Health and Safety, a School of Human Resources, a School of Information Technology, and an adult education stream that prepares learners for Amended Senior Certificate subjects. Accredited qualifications run from Further Education and Training Certificate level up to National Diploma level in bookkeeping, financial accounting and office administration through the Institute of Certified Bookkeepers, occupational certificates in human resources through the South African Board for People Practices, and information technology qualifications through MICT SETA. Around these sit a large catalogue of short learning programmes and industry-endorsed courses, including CIMA, NEBOSH and software vendor certifications, plus learnerships and workforce training for employers.

Enrolment is open all year for most courses, because study is self-paced; NEBOSH courses run in monthly cohorts. There is no application or registration fee, and a course starts once a deposit has been paid. Applicants need to be proficient in English and to have a computer with reliable internet, and accredited qualifications may ask for Grade 10, 11 or 12 depending on the course. Fees are paid by debit order, EFT, an online payment portal or Pay@. As a private college it cannot take NSFAS funding and offers no bursaries of its own, but it helps students apply to Student Hero, Capitec Education Finance and the Nedbank Education Loan.