University of LimpopoUL

The University of Limpopo (UL), widely known by its historic name Turfloop, is a public university based in Mankweng, near Polokwane in Limpopo Province. It traces its origins to the University of the North, established in 1959, which merged with the Medical University of Southern Africa (MEDUNSA), founded in 1976, to form the University of Limpopo in January 2005. The merged institution operated across two campuses roughly 300 kilometres apart for a decade before being separated again; since 1 January 2015 the University of Limpopo has stood as its own institution based at the Turfloop campus, while the former MEDUNSA campus became Sefako Makgatho Health Sciences University. UL's own registrar's office states that its qualifications carry accreditation with the South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA) and the Higher Education Quality Committee (HEQC), and the university separately describes a number of its undergraduate programmes in the Faculty of Science and Agriculture as accredited by the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET).

Teaching at UL is residential and contact-based, delivered from the single Turfloop campus through four faculties: Health Sciences, Humanities, Science and Agriculture, and Management and Law. Each faculty is organised into schools covering fields such as medicine, health care sciences, education, languages and communication, social sciences, mathematical and computer sciences, molecular and life sciences, physical and mineral sciences, agricultural and environmental sciences, law, economics and management, and accountancy, alongside postgraduate leadership studies offered through the Turfloop Graduate School of Leadership. Qualification levels range from higher certificates and diplomas through bachelor's, honours, postgraduate diploma, master's and doctoral degrees, and the university also runs short learning programmes.

Undergraduate applicants are admitted on the strength of a National Senior Certificate with bachelor's degree exemption, an equivalent pre-2008 matriculation certificate, or a National Certificate (Vocational) at Level 4, assessed against an Admission Point Score set by each faculty. Applications are submitted online through the university's own portal. Self-funding students settle fees directly with the university, while students with bursaries or loans arrange for their funders to confirm payment before registration; UL's financial aid office also helps students access the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) as well as private and government bursaries. UL reports a student population of more than 24,600 and an alumni base of over 100,000.