The only ranking of South African institutions of higher education appears to be the Financial Mail ranking of master’s of business administration (MBA) programs.
Financial Mail MBA Rankings
The Financial Mail (FM), a business weekly, conducts an annual survey of MBA offerings in South Africa. In 2004 the Council on Higher Education [1] undertook an across-the-board re-accreditation assessment of business schools operating in South Africa, which resulted in the de-accreditation of a large number of business programs. After the CHE assessment process, the number of MBA providers was whittled down from 28 to 17. The 2004 FM MBA league table was much changed from years prior, as a result.
In 2005, of the 17 institutions offering MBA programs only 12 were ranked, because two schools — at Rhodes University and University of the North — had not been offering MBAs long enough to meet the FM criteria for minimum graduate numbers, and two schools — an independent campus of Potchefstroom University and the Management College of Southern Africa (Mancosa) — refused to take part.
Schools are assessed according to three categories: Graduate assessment and job/salary prospects since graduation (35% of total score, and based on a survey completed by more than 1100 graduates); stakeholder impressions (35%, and based on responses from over 300 employers across the country, graduate impressions of other schools, peer review); students/faculty characteristics and credentials, and research and teaching (30%, and based on student/faculty credentials and diversity, teaching performance and cost, and articles published by faculty in approved journals).
Results
| Top MBA Business Schools, 2005 | |
| Rank | Institution |
| 1 | Wits Business Schools |
| 2 | Stellenbosch University |
| 3 | University of Cape Town |
| 4 | Gordon institute of Business Science |
| 5 | Pretoria University |
| 6 | University of South Africa |
| 7 | Henley Management College |
| 8 | Milpark Business School |
| 9 | Free State University |
| 10 | Potchefstroom University |
| 11 | Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University (former University of Port Elizabeth) |
| 12 | University of Kwazulu-Natal |
Source: Financial Mail