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Cape Town – South African universities are set to feel the pinch after government conceded to student demands for a 0% fee increase.
Recent data by Statistics SA gave an indication of which universities were most dependent on tuition fees, and would most likely be vulnerable to a shortfall.
According to the Financial Statistics of Higher Education Institutions report the University of Johannesburg depended the most on tuition fees to finance its budget.
Students contributed 41% to the university’s total income. Second was University of Venda (40%), followed by Rhodes University (39%) and University of Zululand (38%).
The two newcomers to South Africa’s tertiary education landscape, Sol Plaatje University and the University of Mpumalanga, recorded the lowest dependence, with tuition fees financing 3% and 2% of total income respectively.
This was expected, as these two institutions opened their doors in 2014 with a small number of students.
Thousands of students demonstrated nationwide for almost two weeks in a #FeesMustFall campaign, which led to clashes with riot police at Parliament in Cape Town and at the Union Buildings in Pretoria.
READ: Zuma says free university education is possible
After meeting with student and university leaders on October 23, President Jacob Zuma agreed to leave tuition fees unchanged and committed to investigating issues which are preventing the poor from accessing higher education.
South Africa’s higher education institutions recorded a total income of R60.6bn in the 2014 financial year, according to StatsSA.
