STADIO Higher EducationSTADIO

STADIO Higher Education is a private higher education institution registered with the Department of Higher Education and Training under the Higher Education Act of 1997, with registration number 2008/HE07/004. Its qualifications go through the same accreditation process as those of public universities, at the Higher Education Quality Committee of the Council on Higher Education, and the institution points prospective students to the South African Qualifications Authority as the place where an employer can verify a qualification.

The institution was formed by bringing together four older private providers: Southern Business School, Embury Institute for Higher Education, LISOF and Prestige Academy. It began life as a subsidiary of Curro Holdings, which bought Embury in 2013, and became a separately listed company when STADIO Holdings was unbundled and listed on the JSE in October 2017. AFDA and Milpark Education belong to the same holding group but run as separate institutions. According to its own About page it teaches more than 46 000 students across nine campuses, and its Study With Us page refers to 57 accredited programmes.

Teaching happens in three ways: contact learning on campus, distance learning, and blended learning. Contact learning campuses are in Centurion, Durbanville, Musgrave in Durban and Waterfall in Midrand. Distance learning is run from Krugersdorp and Musgrave, with support centres in George, Mbombela and Polokwane, and two more support centres in Namibia at Windhoek and Ongwediva. Distance students work through a learning management system with online materials, assessments and live online classes that are recorded, and printed materials are available for some programmes.

Programmes are grouped into eight academic schools covering administration and management, commerce, education, engineering and architecture, fashion, arts and design, information technology, law, and policing and law enforcement. Levels run from higher certificates through diplomas, advanced diplomas, bachelor's degrees, honours degrees, postgraduate certificates and diplomas, master's degrees and doctorates.

Applications for 2027 contact learning qualifications are open, and online application is through the student portal, with downloadable forms available for a listed set of distance learning qualifications. STADIO publishes its fee schedules as downloadable documents by school and by mode of study. It states plainly that NSFAS funding is not available to its students because NSFAS funds only public universities. Instead it offers modular fees and instalment payment plans, awards a limited number of its own bursaries each year, and lists student loan options through partners including Manati, FNB and Nedbank on its Student Funding page.