CCollegeMatcher

South Africa · North West

North-West University

Potchefstroom, North West · Traditional university

nwu.ac.za →

Students, 2024

57,610

5.2% of all public university students

First-time undergraduates

13,205

entering in 2024

Graduates, 2024

13,563

State funding, 2024/25

R2.48 billion

total amount allocated

Who studies what

Students by field

  • Science, engineering & technology13,095 · 22.7%
  • Business & management13,179 · 22.9%
  • Education17,290 · 30.0%
  • Other humanities & social sciences14,046 · 24.4%

Students by qualification

  • Occasional students206 · 0.4%
  • Undergraduate certificates & diplomas5,132 · 8.9%
  • Undergraduate degrees43,823 · 76.1%
  • Advanced diploma & PGCE918 · 1.6%
  • Postgraduate, below master's3,104 · 5.4%
  • Master's degrees2,943 · 5.1%
  • Doctoral degrees1,484 · 2.6%

First-time undergraduates, 2009–2024

2009: 5,9292024: 13,205

Graduates, 2024

By field

  • Science, engineering & technology2,772 · 20.4%
  • Business & management3,465 · 25.5%
  • Education4,071 · 30.0%
  • Other humanities & social sciences3,256 · 24.0%

Graduation rate by level

  • Undergraduate certificates & diplomas29.1%
  • Undergraduate degrees18.6%
  • Postgraduate, below master's72.5%
  • Master's degrees26.8%
  • Doctoral degrees18.7%

A graduation rate here is the year's graduates as a percentage of everyone enrolled at that level — the Department's proxy for throughput, not the share of an intake that finishes. For a three-year degree in which every student graduates on time it would be about 33%, so 15–20% is typical, not a failure rate.

State funding

2019/20R2.57 billion
2020/21R2.30 billion
2021/22R2.33 billion
2022/23R2.55 billion
2023/24R2.50 billion
2024/25R2.48 billion

Total amount the Department allocated to the university each financial year. It is not what students pay.

Fees and entry requirements

South Africa has no national register of fees or admission point scores (APS): each university sets and publishes its own. International-student numbers per university are not in the Department's report either. For both, go to NWU's own site.

University type (traditional, comprehensive, university of technology) follows the Council on Higher Education's VitalStats 2022, Appendix 1. The Department counts the same 26 universities as 11 / 9 / 6; the Council lists them 13 / 7 / 6.

Source: Department of Higher Education and Training, Statistics on Post-School Education and Training in South Africa: 2024 (released May 2026). University type from the Council on Higher Education, VitalStats Public Higher Education 2022. City and province added by CollegeMatcher.

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