University in South Africa
Stellenbosch, Western Cape, South Africa
University profile
Stellenbosch University (SU) is a public, research-intensive university in Stellenbosch in the Western Cape, about 50 km from Cape Town. It states a vision of being Africa's leading research-intensive university, and its values are excellence, compassion, accountability, respect and equity. It describes itself as a residential university that combines face-to-face teaching with online and telematic delivery, and its learning platform is SUNLearn.
Teaching is organised in ten faculties and two interdisciplinary schools. The faculties are AgriSciences; Arts and Social Sciences; Economic and Management Sciences (the largest); Education; Engineering; Law; Medicine and Health Sciences; Military Science; Science; and Theology. The two schools are the School for Data Science and Computational Thinking and the School for Climate Studies. SU states that it offers more than 150 undergraduate and more than 800 postgraduate programmes.
SU works across four campuses and a training site: Stellenbosch (the oldest and largest), Tygerberg (Medicine and Health Sciences, with a teaching hospital and the Biomedical Research Institute), Bellville Park (Stellenbosch Business School and postgraduate business and planning programmes) and Saldanha (Faculty of Military Science), plus the Worcester training site for rural clinical training. Its About page lists 35,370 students and about 3,600 academic and professional support staff.
Student life is organised around residences, Private Student Organisations for students living privately, and seven cluster communities that include both residence and commuter students. Maties Sport lists high-performance codes in athletics, cricket, football, hockey, netball, rugby, basketball and swimming, and there are student societies in areas from debating to community service. Trained student mentors and on-campus psychologists, psychometrists and social workers provide support.
International students are served by Stellenbosch University International (SU International), which handles evaluation of international-curriculum applications, immigration and medical cover requirements, accommodation information, orientation and an airport transfer service for first arrival. SU states that it has more than 100 partner institutions on seven continents (About page) and just over 380 bilateral partnerships in nearly 70 countries (institutional profile). SU is a public university established by Act 13 of 1916 and began operating on 2 April 1918.
The Centre for Undergraduate Bursaries and Loans (CUBL) awards and manages SU bursaries for admitted students who lack the means to study. Applications for 2027 funding: prospective students 1 October to 30 November 2026; current undergraduates 1 July to 30 September. Applicants must be South African citizens or permanent residents and, if prospective, hold provisional admission (an 8-digit SU student number). SU states that funds are limited and applying does not guarantee funding.
Students from households with a gross annual income below R350,000 qualify; for students with disabilities the threshold is R600,000. NSFAS-funded students are encouraged to apply as well, in case they are defunded, and may then be considered for top-up or shortfall funding.
SU states that merit awards and the 'three children' rebates are granted on merit only, without a financial need test.
Ten external donor bursaries are listed (for example Dippenaar Family Trust for EMS students, DW Ackermann for Engineering students, Rodney Africa for Law students, Piet Neethling for Medicine and Health Sciences and AgriSciences students) and 11 family bursaries (for example AW Schumann for Physics and/or Mathematics students and Ds DH Neethling for Theology students). Required documents include certified ID, proof of income and a signed consent form. The Bursary Yearbook lists SU-managed and external bursaries by faculty. The Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences has bursary officers on the Tygerberg campus (Clinical Building).
SU lists bank and student-loan providers (Standard Bank, Capitec, Nedbank, Student Hero, Fundi, Manati); these are not administered by SU. Postgraduate funding is handled by the Postgraduate Funding Office.
Official pages: SU Bursaries and Loans, how to apply, bursary types.
Stellenbosch University Vice-Chancellor's Award →
Stellenbosch University Postgraduate Scholarship Programme →
Browse the scholarships listed for Stellenbosch University and check each award’s eligibility.
View scholarships for Stellenbosch University →Applications open on 1 April. Undergraduate applications and residence applications close on 31 July; the Diploma in Public Accountability closes on 15 December. Applicants may apply for up to three undergraduate programmes and may receive more than one offer, but can accept only one at a time. Applications are submitted online through the applicant portal with all required documents uploaded by the closing date.
R100 for South African citizens and holders of permanent residence, refugee, asylum seeker or diplomatic status; R400 for international applicants. Some South African applicants are exempt depending on the quantile of their school. Stellenbosch Business School fees are R1,050 for the MBA and R850 for other programmes. Application fees are not refundable.
An NSC pass needs at least seven subjects: two South African languages, Mathematics or Mathematical Literacy, three 20-credit subjects and Life Orientation. Minimum marks are 40% for the Home Language, 40% for two other subjects, 30% for two further subjects (one an official language at First Additional or Home Language level) and 20% for the final subject. Life Orientation is not counted in the average. SU uses the NSC average (excluding Life Orientation) and programme subject percentages rather than an APS score. Programme requirements are published per programme, for example BAgric Agribusiness Management: 60% aggregate, English or Afrikaans 50%, Mathematics 60% and Physical Sciences 50%; BEng: 70% aggregate, Mathematics 70%, Physical Sciences 60%; MBChB: 75% aggregate, Mathematics 60%, Physical Sciences 50%, Life Sciences 50%.
All programmes are selection programmes and meeting the minimum requirements does not guarantee admission. Each faculty publishes selection guidelines. For Engineering the selection mark is Mathematics percentage plus Physical Sciences percentage plus six times the Matric average (six best subjects). Health Sciences programmes select a set number of candidates (for example about 280 for MBChB and about 55 for Physiotherapy), and MBChB considers only registered SU students and applicants with tertiary qualifications in addition to school leavers as set out in the guidelines.
NBTs are not required for 2027 admission except for all Faculty of Law programmes (written before 31 July), School of Tomorrow applicants, the South African-based American High School Diploma and all online schools.
International-curriculum applicants (Cambridge, Pearson, IB, American High School Diploma and similar) are evaluated by the Admission Office with SU International and need to meet Universities South Africa matriculation exemption requirements; English First Language is stated as non-negotiable for exemption (excluding Namibia). International applicants need a study visa and medical cover registered with the Council for Medical Schemes. Key dates for international applicants: applications close 31 July; 30 November is the deadline to attract an offer. Contacts: [email protected].
Applications go through the SUNStudent portal, with faculty-specific closing dates listed per programme. Applicants may apply for up to two postgraduate diploma, Honours or Master's programmes and one doctoral programme. Postgraduate and international application fee: R400 for international applicants.
Facilities published by SU include a 14,000-seat athletics stadium, two artificial grass pitches, nine hockey fields, six cricket fields, nine squash courts, eight netball courts, 15 rugby fields, 27 tennis courts and six clubhouses. Campus Health Service (Claassen Street) and 24-hour crisis counselling are listed on the contact page.
Undergraduate residences on the Stellenbosch campus include women's, men's and co-ed (mixed-gender per floor) houses, senior residences, privately affiliated residences and a sport residence. Accommodation is not included in the academic offer.
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