Rankings of universities in South Africa



Hierarchical lists that rank universities are regularly published by the popular press. Intended originally as a marketing or a benchmarking tool, university rankings have become apart of many countries research evaluation and policy initiatives. These different tables (see below) attempt to fulfill a demand for information and transparency. However, rankings influence evaluation choices and distort higher education policies. List producers allow well remunerated vice-chancellors to claim a top spot for their university in an educational league. These ranking, the publishers claim, are determined by quantitative indicators. Published research suggests otherwise, rankings are re-shaping public education and harming the academic project. According to an Independent Expert Group (IEG), convened by the United Nations University International Institute for Global Health, Global university rankings are
 * conceptually invalid
 * based on flawed and insufficiently transparent data and methods
 * biased towards research, STEM subjects, and English-speaking scholars
 * are colonial and accentuate global, regional, and national inequalities.

Rankings of universities in South Africa are used to influence how students, parents, policymakers, employers, the wider public and other stakeholders think about higher education.These local league tables are based on international university rankings since there are no South African rankings yet. This absence might be attributed to international criticism of college and university rankings. Its generally agreed that rankings apply questionable criteria and an opaque methodology. The Council for Higher Education (CHE) has recently taken a critical perspective on university rankings, publishing an opinion that argues that rankings are both neocolonial and neoliberal. According to the author, more than 47 publishing companies have used “inappropriate indicators …as a proxy for offering a quality education”.

Higher Education is being re-shaped by private for-profit companies and are part of a billion-dollar profit center for the companies owning them. Ranking companies prey on universities and governments in the global south, and their anxieties to be seen as a “world class” university. This has led to number of gaming behaviors in the sector. This is a global problem, and it seems that Higher Education priorities are misplaced, with marketing and communications officials focused on branding their institutions, looking appealing to prospective students, by referring repeatedly to rankings, instead of focusing on the needs of actual students. Since 2013, Rhodes University has held this critical position about rankings Rhodes position was given credence by Wits University, when Wits recently re-published an article in “The Conversation” entitled “ University rankings are unscientific and bad for education: experts point out the flaws”. This stance is increasingly supported by notable institutions beyond North America, such as the University of Zurich, Utrecht University, and some of the Indian Institutes of Technology. Recently Nature  concurred with this opinion that rankings are methodologically problematic.

Notwithstanding the above information, the numerous international university rankings do seem to agree that South Africa's university system is the strongest on the continent: it is home to 8 of the top 10 highest ranked African universities, they just can’t seem to come to a consensus as to which of the big five are academically, after University of Cape Town, also sit at the top of the league tables. The race for second place, takes place between Stellenbosch University, University of Pretoria, University of the Witwatersrand, University of Johannesburg and University of Kwa Zulu Natal as they each vie for the next highest position, with no consensus on who is ranked below the first position, in the Olympic rankings race.



Context on South African higher educational institutions
A 2010 Centre for Higher Education Transformation report identified three university clusters in South Africa, grouped according to function. The input variables used to group universities were:
 * Percentage of headcount enrolment in science, engineering and technology
 * Masters and doctoral enrolments
 * Student-to-staff ratios
 * Permanent staff with doctoral degrees
 * Private and government income
 * Student fee income

The output variables were: The Red cluster constitutes the top research-intensive universities. The Blue cluster consists of institutions focused primarily on technical training, while the Green cluster includes institutions which show characteristics of both missions. The clusters are:
 * Student success rates
 * Graduation rates
 * Weighted research output units per permanent staff member

Rankings
In part because of the inherent difficulty of ranking complex educational institutions, there are an expanding number of competing international university ranking schemes, each with a different emphasis. Four of the most prominent are the Times Higher Education World University Rankings (most widely accepted), The Center for World University Rankings (CWUR), QS World University Rankings, and the Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU, sometimes referred to as the "Shanghai Rankings").

Times Higher Education World University rankings
The Times Higher Education World University Rankings ranked the top South African universities as follows:

QS World University rankings
QS World University Rankings ranked the top South African universities as follows (before 2010 the ranking was known as the Times Higher Education-QS World University Rankings):

ARWU/Shanghai
The Academic Ranking of World Universities has ranked the top South African universities as follows: Note: These are the only ranked South African universities.

Center for World University Rankings (CWUR)
The CWUR ranked the top South African Universities as follows:

University Ranking by Academic Performance (URAP)
URAP, which is a newer ranking scheme based solely on quantitative measures of academic productivity, includes data for a larger number of global universities, and thus gives an alternative view of the relative standing of more South African institutions. The 2020-2021 edition of URAP ranked the top South African Universities as follows:

Business-oriented rankings
Several international ranking schemes focus on the placement of graduates in business settings.

Times Higher Education Alma Mater Index
This is another THE ranking, which aims to measure the real-world success of a university's alumni by ranking Universities according to the number of their graduates that are currently CEOs of Fortune Global 500 companies. The global number one for 2017 is, by a considerable margin, Harvard University. The only African University that appears on the Global Top 100 is the University of the Witwatersrand. The 2017 South African rankings are as follows:

Tredence-Emerging Global Employability University Ranking
This is a global ranking of universities based on the perceived quality of their graduates by top employers worldwide. The only African university in the top 150 is the University of the Witwatersrand. The 2013 ranking is as follows:

Bloomberg Billionaire Ranking
This ranks universities according to their popularity among US-based billionaires. The only ranked South African university is the University of the Witwatersrand. The 2014 ranking is as follows: