Study abroad semester in South Africa

Welcome to South Africa!

South Africa offers perhaps the best weather and some of the best living conditions of the entire Africa. Its climate is temperate, and extreme temperatures rarely occur. The country came out from the apartheid that enabled legal segregation between government-defined races in housing, education, and virtually all spheres of life. South Africa has three capitals cities: Bloemfontein, Cape Town and Pretoria.

The two most dangerous issues regarding South Africa are perhaps crime rate and AIDS: crime rate is quite high, and sometimes it is not safe to walk around, while the AIDS pandemic have never been eradicated in the country, and the number of infected people is relevant. Christianity is prevalent in the country.

Population distribution is not even: 90% of the population live in the eastern part of the country, most of the times in urban areas that, however, lack the basic infrastructure for transportation, water, sanitation, or electricity in some cases. As many other African nations, the most important bulk of South Africa’s population is young. Higher education is well-developed, modern and international-oriented.

What are the best universities in South Africa for semester students?

Are you still undecided whether or not South Africa might be an appealing destination for you? On wearefreemovers you can find a selection of 7 academic institutions offering you the possibility of spending a semester or a full academic year in South Africa. Let’s check some statistics about them.

Here you can see the positions of the South African institutions among the world’s best universities rankings.

NAMEQSTHEARWUCWURCWTSEduniversal palmesU.S. News & World Report's Best Global Universities RankingsWebometrics
University of Cape Town220155201-3002683995103216
University of Pretoria561-570601–800401-5005784364444952
University of Pretoria - Faculty of Veterinary Science561-570601–800401-5005784364444-
University of the Witwatersrand - Faculty of Health Sciences403201–250201-3002754484192864
Stellenbosch University456251–300401-5004294725321367
Stellenbosch University - Business School456251–300401-5004294725321367
Stellenbosch University - Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences456251–300401-5004294725321367
University of Johannesburg439601–800601-700706770-378690
Nelson Mandela University---1655-31254-
University of the Western Cape - Faculty of Dentistry1001+601–800-1158--729862

Well, that’s a pretty nice result. For sure you could go in one of those institutions without any international recognition problem. Don’t stress too much on the difference among those results, as they change year over year. If your destination university is included in the majority of international rankings that is a great destination. You could dive deeper into the sub-rankings for every subject in the Subject Guides if you want.

Costs and fees

South Africa is a cheap country. Monthly costs of living for a single person are close to 550€. Keep in mind that, as a student, you could have access to various discounts which can include food, travel, and accommodation expenses.

When it comes to university’s fees, South Africa is medium expensive, with a median 3700€/semester for free mover students.

Which South African cities are available for free movers?

Currently there are many cities that accept free movers in South Africa. Have you ever dreamt of studying in Cape Town or any other city in South Africa? Here you can find institutions divided by city: