Tertiary education comes with a hefty price tag in South Africa and an even more hefty price tag abroad. Based on a comparison of three offshore universities, namely the University of Western Australia in Perth, Oxford in England and Harvard in USA, the annual average cost for an offshore university per a year including living expense can range between a minimum of R346,216 per annum – for lower end choices – to R1.1 million per year at Harvard University.
I am borrowing these figures from and 2018 businesstech.co.za article and one will need to account for inflation to work out the end goal and how much you will need to save. My daughter is my two years old now, in order for me to send her to a good university in South Africa in 16 years’ time, I would need an future average value of R193 000 per a year, and the frightful sum of R1.6M a year should she be lucky enough to study abroad…. Shoew well this was a big wake up call for me. Before I know it my beautiful daughter will be 18, and hopefully I’ve saved enough to give her the opportunity to further her education and pursue her dream… if you feel the same as I do, and are worried saving about the future of your child’s education, contact me, Natasha, on 0747311019 for more information on local and offshore saving investment options.
| University | BA | BCom | BSc | LLB | BEng |
| University of Cape Town | R53 440 | R64 890 | R58 400 | R54 350 | R61 220 |
| University of the Witwatersrand | R44 890 | R46 795 | R47 920 | R43 640 | R61 810 |
| Stellenbosch University | R39 696 | R41 030 | R48 096 | R47 270 | R55 296 |
| University of KwaZulu Natal | R38 500 | R36 580 | R38 300 | R37 758 | R44 700 |
| University of Pretoria* | R36 000 (R38 880) |
R42 000 (R45 360) |
R44 000 (R47 520) |
R37 000 (R39 960) |
R46 000 (R49 680) |
| Rhodes University | R43 390 | R47 472 | R45 140 | R48 673 | N/A |
| University of Johannesburg* | R36 650 (R39 580) |
R37 500 (R40 500) |
R44 000 (R47 520) |
R34 150 (R36 880) |
R41 600 (R44 930) |
| North-West University | R39 300 | R39 300 | R42 600 | R46 100 | R49 900 |
| Rank | City | Affordability rank | Average annual living expenses | Average international tuition fees |
| 1 | Montreal | 39 | $11 300 (R133 203) | $12 200 (R143 812) per year |
| 2 | Paris | 38 | $12 800 (R150 885) | $2 900 (R34 185) per year |
| 3 | London | 105 | $18 960 (R223 499) | $21 400 (R252 262) per year |
| 4 | Seoul | 74 | $13 500 (R159 137) | $6 300 (R74 262) per year |
| 5 | Melbourne | 104 | $15 250 (R179 766) | $23 300 (R274 659) per year |
| 6 | Berlin | 16 | $10 240 (R120 708) | $0 per year (undergraduate) |
| 7 | Tokyo | 78 | $17 300 (R203 931) | $6 600 (R77 800) per year |
| 8 | Boston | 114 | $27 666 (R326 125) | $46 800 (R551 676) per year |
| 9 | Munich | 23 | $13 300 (R156 779) | $0 per year (undergraduate) |
| 10 | Vancouver | 51 | $11 525 (R135 856) | $18 000 (R212 183) per year |