Universities South Africa
Thought Leadership News
A Bachelor’s pass on its own does not open doors to university education
It is a perennial challenge, yet it manifested in unprecedented ways in January 2026, as parents increasingly turned to Universities South Africa (USAf) for assistance,...
Mathematics as a key determinant of university entry sparks a fierce debate
Professor Martin Gustafsson sparked intense debate when he asked an audience of 130 education practitioners whether all learners should be permitted to study Pure Mathematics...
The hard facts informing enrolment planning and admissibility at public universities
Faced with a sustained demand for spaces against limited capacity to absorb aspiring students, universities are confronted with two pressing questions: Is the growing National...
Rethinking Access: Could distance learning resolve the capacity conundrum in Higher Education?
Proponents of distance teaching and learning in the university sector often encourage a shift to distance education as one of numerous solutions to the space...
Private Higher Education as the “Cinderella” of South Africa’s post-school education and training landscape
Private higher education remains on the margins of South Africa’s post‑school education and training (PSET) system, where access, mobility, and progression remain uneven. At Universities...
Public and private universities can co-exist in harmony in South Africa
At Universities South Africa’s (USAf’s) Thought Leadership Dialogue on 2 October 2025, Dr Carin Stoltz-Urban, Chief Operations Officer of Inscape Education Group, reflected on the...
South Africa must grow TVETs to solve the tertiary space crisis and drive youth employability
During Universities South Africa’s (USAf) inaugural Thought Leadership Dialogue on 2 October 2025, Dr Denyse Webbstock, Senior Director for Institutional Planning, Evaluation and Monitoring at...
Youth employability is about possessing appropriate skills and not where the skills are sourced – Professor André Roux, Stellenbosch University
Plumbers and other tradesmen are as important to the economy as professionals, said Professor André Roux, Associate Professor (Emeritus) and Principal Lecturer in Economics at...
Beyond youth access to Post-School Education and Training to employability: Recommendations from USAf’s inaugural Thought Leadership event
What emerged from the Inaugural Thought Leadership event of Universities South Africa (USAf) on 2 October 2025 was not a single solution, but a set...
Thought Leadership insights and recommendations to influence priority focus decisions of USAf Strategy Groups
Universities SA (USAf) takes very seriously the issues laid bare at its inaugural Thought Leadership event on 2 October, said the USAf CEO, Dr Phethiwe Matutu,...
USAf’s first Thought Leadership attracts wide national interest extending to SADC
Universities South Africa’s inaugural Thought Leadership event has secured the attendance of up to 350 delegates representing public universities, private higher education providers, professional education...
The first Universities South Africa’s Thought Leadership event kicks off on 2 October 2025
As 2025 enters its final quarter, public universities are preparing for yet another challenging admissions season in 2026. They will be turning away hundreds of...