Wits University retains its top spot as the continents premier university.
This year’s edition of Academic Ranking of World Universities (Arwu) is out and Wits University has managed to hold on to its spot as the best university in South Africa and the continent.
Wits was ranked between the top 201 and 300 universities in the world in a list consisting of 1 000 universities.
Shanghai Ranking Consultancy rank these universities based on their alumni numbers, staff awards in their fields, the number of highly cited researchers and the number of articles published in select journals.
Apart from Wits, three other South African universities made the top 500 while another four were ranked between 501 and 1 000.
According to Arwu, the University of Cape Town is the second best in the country and Stellenbosch University and the University of Pretoria share the third spot.
Last year the University of Johannesburg and the University of KwaZulu-Natal cracked the top 500 but they fell between 501 and 1 000 this year.
South African university rankings according to Arwu (world ranking):
1) Wits University (201–300)
2) University of Cape Town (301–400)
3) Stellenbosch University and University of Pretoria (401–500)
4) University of KwaZulu-Natal (501–600)
5) University of Johannesburg (601–700)
6) North-West University and the University of South Africa (701–800)
Top 10 universities in the world according to Arwu:
1) Harvard University, United States of America
2) Stanford University, United States of America
3) University of Cambridge, United Kingdom
4) Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), United States of America
5) University of California, Berkeley, United States of America
6) Princeton University, United States of America
7) University of Oxford, United Kingdom
8) Columbia University, United States of America
9) California Institute of Technology, United States of America
10) University of Chicago, United States of America.
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