CCollegeMatcher

South Africa · Eastern Cape

Rhodes University

Makhanda, Eastern Cape · Traditional university

ru.ac.za →

Students, 2024

8,445

0.8% of all public university students

First-time undergraduates

1,755

entering in 2024

Graduates, 2024

2,207

State funding, 2024/25

R622 million

total amount allocated

Who studies what

Students by field

  • Science, engineering & technology2,405 · 28.5%
  • Business & management1,301 · 15.4%
  • Education1,210 · 14.3%
  • Other humanities & social sciences3,529 · 41.8%

Students by qualification

  • Occasional students104 · 1.2%
  • Undergraduate certificates & diplomas91 · 1.1%
  • Undergraduate degrees6,175 · 73.1%
  • Advanced diploma & PGCE202 · 2.4%
  • Postgraduate, below master's635 · 7.5%
  • Master's degrees742 · 8.8%
  • Doctoral degrees496 · 5.9%

First-time undergraduates, 2009–2024

2009: 1,6702024: 1,755

Graduates, 2024

By field

  • Science, engineering & technology599 · 27.1%
  • Business & management395 · 17.9%
  • Education292 · 13.2%
  • Other humanities & social sciences921 · 41.7%

Graduation rate by level

  • Undergraduate certificates & diplomas42.9%
  • Undergraduate degrees20.7%
  • Postgraduate, below master's75.9%
  • Master's degrees20.8%
  • Doctoral degrees15.3%

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

2019/20R773 million
2020/21R559 million
2021/22R585 million
2022/23R622 million
2023/24R618 million
2024/25R622 million

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 Rhodes's own site.

Also in Eastern Cape: University of Fort Hare, Nelson Mandela University, Walter Sisulu University

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.

Similar institutions in South Africa

Picked by type, place and size, from the same data as this page — not a judgement of quality.