University of PretoriaUP

The University of Pretoria is a public university in Gauteng that, in its own words, exists in accordance with the Higher Education Act 101 of 1997. It opened in 1908 in a small house with four professors and 32 students, and now has more than 54 000 students across nine faculties and a business school. Its academic programmes are accredited through the Council on Higher Education. Some professional programmes carry a further accreditation of their own: the degree programmes of the Department of Electrical, Electronic and Computer Engineering are accredited by the Engineering Council of South Africa.

Teaching is spread over seven campuses. Hatfield is the main campus and holds most faculties. Education sits at Groenkloof, health sciences at Prinshof, and veterinary science at Onderstepoort, which the university describes as South Africa's only faculty of its kind. Hillcrest holds the sporting and sports science facilities, and the Mamelodi Campus gives a foundation to students entering the natural and agricultural sciences and the economic and management sciences. The business school, the Gordon Institute of Business Science, is in Illovo in Johannesburg. A bus service links the campuses to Hatfield and to the official residences.

Most study is contact-based, following a blended approach that mixes in-person classes with online learning. Fully online accredited programmes are offered through UPOnline, and the education faculty runs distance programmes in modular blocks over six-month cycles.

Qualifications range from a higher certificate and advanced diplomas, through bachelor's degrees, honours degrees, postgraduate certificates and postgraduate diplomas, to master's and doctoral degrees. Short courses are run through Enterprises University of Pretoria, and the business school offers executive education.

Applications are made online. For the 2027 academic year they opened on 1 April 2026; veterinary science closed on 31 May and all other programmes on 30 June. A non-refundable handling fee of R300, or USD30 for international applicants, is charged. Undergraduate admission works on an Admission Point Score together with subject requirements — the higher certificate in sports sciences, for instance, asks for an APS of 20 and an achievement level of 4 in English.

Fees are payable in advance: an initial amount within 30 days, half the account by 30 April, and the balance by 31 July. For funding, the university points students to NSFAS, and to bursaries, scholarships, merit awards and loans.