MANCOSA

MANCOSA is a private higher education institution with its head office in Durban. It is registered with the Department of Higher Education and Training under registration number 2000/HE07/003 in terms of the Higher Education Act, its programmes are quality assured by the Council on Higher Education, it received Higher Education Quality Committee accreditation in 2002, and its qualifications are submitted to the South African Qualifications Authority for recording on the National Qualifications Framework. The legal entity behind it is MANCOSA (Pty) Limited.

The institution opened in 1995 as a post-apartheid empowerment project offering management programmes, at first in partnership with Buckinghamshire Chilterns University College in the United Kingdom, and began awarding its own South African qualifications in 2000. Its first bachelor's degree followed in 2004. A graduate school of business opened in 2014, the School of Education in 2019, the School of Information and Digital Technology in 2021 and the School of Healthcare in 2022. In 2017 MANCOSA became a founding member of Honoris United Universities, a pan-African higher education network. It marked 30 years in 2025.

Teaching is by distance learning. Study material, recorded lectures and virtual classroom sessions are delivered through the institution's own online platforms, with limited face-to-face workshops supporting the self-study material, and students are told they can work from a laptop, tablet or phone. Eight learning centres are listed in South Africa, in Durban, Johannesburg, Cape Town, Pretoria, Gqeberha, East London, Polokwane and Mbombela, alongside one in Windhoek, Namibia. The institution reports more than 15 000 active students and more than 60 programmes.

Qualifications run from one-year higher certificates at NQF level 5 through advanced certificates, advanced diplomas, bachelor's degrees, honours degrees, postgraduate certificates and postgraduate diplomas, master's degrees and a Doctor of Business Administration. Fields covered include business and management, education, healthcare management, and information and digital technology. Employers are served separately through customised short learning programmes and short skills development courses.

Entry to a higher certificate is a National Senior Certificate or an equivalent qualification. Postgraduate study asks for a recognised undergraduate qualification or an equivalent credential, with certified academic transcripts and identification submitted through the online application portal. Prospectus and fee documents are published as downloads by study level, and student accounts are settled through an online payment hub.