University of South Africa

The University of South Africa, commonly known as UNISA, is a comprehensive distance-education university with its seat in Pretoria, founded in 1873 as the University of the Cape of Good Hope.南非大学通称 UNISA，是一所总部设于比勒陀利亚的综合性远程教育大学，1873 年以好望角大学之名创建。

It is the largest university system in South Africa by enrolment and one of the world's mega universities, the only such open-distance institution in Africa and the sole higher-education institution to carry the country's name.按注册人数它是南非最大的大学体系，也是世界巨型大学之一，是非洲唯一的开放式远程巨型大学，更是唯一以国名命名的高等教育机构。

Through various colleges and affiliates it serves more than 400,000 students, including international students from 130 countries, and in the QS World University Rankings 2027 it is placed in the 951-1000 band.经由各学院与附属单位，它服务逾 40 万名学生，含来自 130 个国家的国际学生，在 2027 年 QS 世界大学排名中位列第 951-1000 位。

History

• Founded in 1873 as the University of the Cape of Good Hope, the institution received a royal charter in 1877 and spent much of its early history as an examining agency for the universities of Oxford and Cambridge.该校 1873 年以好望角大学之名创建，1877 年获颁皇家特许状，早期大半历史充当牛津大学与剑桥大学的考试代理机构。

• It also served as an incubator from which most other universities in South Africa are descended, seeding higher education across the subcontinent over more than a century.它同时充当孵化器，南非今日多数大学皆由它衍生而来，在一个多世纪里为整个次大陆播下高等教育的种子。

• Legislation in 1916 established the autonomous University of South Africa, with its seat in Pretoria, as an umbrella or federal institution, the same act also making Stellenbosch University and the University of Cape Town autonomous.1916 年立法设立以比勒陀利亚为总部的自治南非大学，作为联邦式总院，同一法案也让斯特兰博斯大学与开普敦大学取得自治地位。

• In its trusteeship role UNISA oversaw Grey University College in Bloemfontein, Huguenot University College in Wellington, and Natal University College in Pietermaritzburg, among several colleges that later became autonomous universities.在学务托管角色下，它监管布隆方丹的格雷大学学院、惠灵顿的雨格诺大学学院与彼得马里茨堡的纳塔尔大学学院等一批后来独立的大学学院。

• The colleges under its trusteeship also included Rhodes University College in Grahamstown, Transvaal University College in Pretoria, the South African School of Mines and Technology in Johannesburg, and Potchefstroom University College.其托管学院还包括 Grahamstown 的罗德大学学院、比勒陀利亚的德兰士瓦大学学院、约翰内斯堡的南非矿业与技术学院，以及波特切斯特鲁姆大学学院。

• In 1946 UNISA was given a new role as a distance education university, and today it offers certificate, diploma, and degree courses up to doctoral level through open and correspondence study.1946 年，该校被赋予远程教育大学的新角色，如今通过开放与函授方式提供从证书、文凭直至博士学位的各层课程。

• With the passage of the Extension of University Education Act in 1959, UNISA's trusteeship also extended to the five so-called black universities, including the University of Zululand and the University of Fort Hare.随 1959 年《大学教育扩展法》通过，其托管范围又延及五所所谓黑人大学，包括祖鲁兰大学与福特海尔大学。

• The other three institutions brought under its trusteeship were the University of the Western Cape, the University of the North, and the University of Durban-Westville, all serving communities excluded by apartheid policy.另三所受其托管的院校为西开普大学、北大学与德班-西维尔大学，均服务于种族隔离政策所排斥的群体。

• In January 2004 UNISA merged with Technikon Southern Africa, a polytechnic, and incorporated the distance-education component of Vista University known as VUDEC, the combined institution retaining the name University of South Africa.2004 年 1 月，该校与理工学院南非洲技术学院合并，并入威斯塔大学名为 VUDEC 的远程教育板块，合并后的机构仍沿用南非大学之名。

• In 1972 UNISA moved into its new home on Muckleneuk Ridge, vacating old quarters in central Pretoria, a complex designed by Bryan Sandrock Architects in the 1960s in an international style.1972 年，该校迁入穆克莱尼克岭上的新址，腾出比勒陀利亚市中心的旧屋，该建筑群由 Bryan Sandrock 建筑师事务所于 1960 年代以国际式风格设计。

• For its 150th anniversary in 2023 the university marked a sesquicentennial that the sources record as blemished by governance controversies and a failure to meet its strategic goals.2023 年迎来创校 150 周年，资料记载这一 150 年纪念因治理争议与未能达成战略目标而蒙上阴影。

• On 17 October 2021 a leaked ministerial report claimed that corruption at UNISA undermined educational quality and risked making it a qualifications factory, prompting a corrective statement from the university on 19 October 2021.2021 年 10 月 17 日，一份泄露的部长报告指称校内腐败损害教育质量、恐使其沦为"文凭工厂"，该校遂于 2021 年 10 月 19 日发声明澄清。

• According to that assessor's account the institution's problems came to the fore around 2015, with reports of deteriorating governance, unstable executive management, and continued complaints about student administration.依独立评估者所述，该校问题约在 2015 年集中显现，出现治理恶化、行政管理层动荡以及学生事务持续遭投诉的报告。

• In October 2023 the Minister of Higher Education, Blade Nzimande, appointed former University of Johannesburg vice-chancellor Ihron Rensburg as administrator for 24 months, placing the institution under administration.2023 年 10 月，高等教育部长布莱德·恩齐曼德任命前约翰内斯堡大学副校长伊龙·伦斯堡为为期 24 个月的管理员，将该校置于政府托管之下。

• UNISA management challenged that decision in court, and an order granted by the North Gauteng High Court declared the minister's notice of intention to be in breach of an earlier order by Justice Adams of 24 August 2023.校方就托管决定诉诸法庭，北豪登高等法院的一项裁定宣布部长意向通知违反了 Adams 法官 2023 年 8 月 24 日先前的命令。

• As of 2024 the university was investigating over 1,400 student disciplinary cases of academic dishonesty, most involving postgraduate students, under a policy of zero tolerance for cheating.截至 2024 年，该校正调查逾 1400 起学生学术不端处分案件，多数涉研究生，其学术诚信政策对作弊持零容忍态度。

• By data extracted from audited HEMIS submissions, UNISA had 355,240 students enrolled in 2013, of whom 91.4 percent, or 324,607, were South African.据审计的高等教育管理信息系统提交数据，2013 年该校注册学生达 355240 名，其中 91.4% 即 324607 名为南非学生。

• The same 2013 submission recorded a complement of 5,575 staff members, comprising 3,261 females, or 55.7 percent, and 2,593 males, or 44.3 percent.同一份 2013 年提交数据记录全校有 5575 名员工，其中女性 3261 名占 55.7%，男性 2593 名占 44.3%。

• In 2015 the Times Higher Education ranked the University of South Africa the 6th best university in South Africa, and 6th in Africa out of 30 institutions surveyed.2015 年，泰晤士高等教育将南非大学列为南非第 6 佳大学，在受调查的 30 所非洲院校中同样排名第 6。

• UNISA is recognised as the first tertiary institution in Africa to own an airport, an unusual asset for an open-distance university whose reach extends beyond brick-and-mortar campuses.该校被公认为非洲第一所拥有机场的高等院校，对一所影响力超越实体校园的开放远程大学而言是一处非同寻常的资产。

• In the decades after 1946 UNISA steadily expanded correspondence and open-learning provision, evolving from a purely examining body into a full teaching university delivering courses entirely at a distance.1946 年之后的数十年间，该校稳步扩展函授与开放学习供给，从纯粹的考试机构逐步发展为完全以远程方式授课的正规教学大学。

• UNISA's early examining role bound it to the universities of Oxford and Cambridge, whose syllabi and papers it administered for students across the region before becoming a teaching university in its own right.该校早期的考试代理角色使其与牛津大学、剑桥大学紧密相连，在成为一所自主教学大学之前，它一直为全区学生承办这两校的考纲与试卷。

Academics

• As a comprehensive university UNISA offers both vocational and academic programmes, many of which have received international accreditation, combining career-oriented courses with formative traditional programmes.作为一所综合性大学，该校同时提供职业型与学术型课程，其中许多获国际认证，兼融面向就业的课程与传统养成型学术项目。

• The institution is now organised by college and by school, comprising eight colleges and the Graduate School of Business Leadership known as SBL.该校现以学院与学系架构运作，设八个学院以及名为 SBL 的商业领导力研究生院。

• Its colleges are the College of Accounting Sciences, the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, the College of Education, the College of Economic and Management Sciences, the College of Graduate Studies, the College of Human Sciences, the College of Law, and the College of Science, Engineering and Technology.其下辖会计科学院、农业与环境科学学院、教育学院、经济与管理科学学院、研究生学院、人文科学学院、法学院，以及科学、工程与技术学院。

• According to the 2013 data the College of Economic and Management Sciences was the largest of the eight colleges, with 26.7 percent, or 94,972, of total student enrolments.依 2013 年数据，经济与管理科学学院是八大学院中规模最大者，占总注册数的 26.7% 即 94972 人。

• Beyond the colleges and SBL, UNISA maintains numerous bureaus, centres, institutes, museums, and units that support academic development and research across the open-distance model.除学院与 SBL 外，该校还设有众多办事处、中心、研究所、博物馆与单位，支撑开放远程模式下的学术发展与研究。

• Engineering qualifications from the College of Science, Engineering and Technology are aligned with the Dublin and Sydney Accords for technician and technologist training rather than professional-engineer admission.科学、工程与技术学院的工程资格对应技术员的都柏林协议与技术师的悉尼协议，属技师培养而非专业工程师准入。

• Graduates of these programmes cannot register as a Professional Engineer with the Engineering Council of South Africa, and the university introduced a Bachelor of Engineering Technology Honours as a Level 8 qualification.此类项目毕业生无法在南非洲工程委员会注册为专业工程师，该校遂推出作为第 8 级资格的技术工程荣誉学士。

• UNISA received a royal charter in 1877 and operates under the Statute of the University of South Africa issued in terms of the Higher Education Act No. 101 of 1997.该校于 1877 年获颁皇家特许状，并依 1997 年第 101 号《高等教育法》发布的《南非大学章程》运作。

• It is accredited by the South African Department of Education and the Council on Higher Education, and its qualifications, including those of SBL, are registered with the South African Qualifications Authority.它经南非教育部与高等教育委员会认证，其学历含 SBL 所授者均在南非资格管理局注册。

• Internationally UNISA is listed in the UNESCO International Handbook of Universities and the Commonwealth Universities Handbook of 1999, and is a member of the Association of Commonwealth Universities.国际上，该校收录于联合国教科文组织《国际大学手册》与 1999 年《英联邦大学手册》，并为英联邦大学协会成员。

• Since 2014 the university has applied stricter entrance rules that reject TVET College graduates, a stance Universities South Africa attributes to the greater in-depth coverage of school-curriculum subjects.自 2014 年起该校实施更严格的入学规则，拒收技术与职业教育培训学院毕业生，南非大学协会认为源于学校课程科目更具纵深。

• UNISA is renowned for learner-centred distance and open education, providing online courses and, over a century and a half, high-quality tools for both students and teachers.该校以学习者为中心的远程开放教育著称，提供在线课程，并在一个半世纪里为师生提供高质量教学工具。

• It has pursued digital transformation and strategic partnerships, notably with the Times Higher Education on a University Impact Forum addressing United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 4 on quality education.该校推进数字化转型与战略伙伴合作，尤其与泰晤士高等教育共建大学影响论坛，呼应联合国关于优质教育的可持续发展目标 4。

• As one of the world's mega universities, UNISA presents offerings associated with both technological and traditional universities across an extensive geographical footprint in many countries.作为世界巨型大学之一，该校提供兼属技术型与传统型大学的课程，其地理足迹延伸至许多国家。

• Since 2014 the university has applied stricter entrance rules that reject TVET College graduates, a stance Universities South Africa attributes to the greater in-depth coverage of school-curriculum subjects.自 2014 年起该校实施更严格的入学规则，拒收技术与职业教育培训学院毕业生，南非大学协会认为源于学校课程科目更具纵深。

• UNISA Press is described as the largest university press in South Africa and in Africa, publishing titles from Sisters in the Struggle by Kalpana Hiralal to Violence in Schools by Clive Harber and Vusi Mncube.该校出版社被誉为南非及非洲最大的大学出版社，出版书目从卡尔帕娜·希拉勒的《斗争中的姐妹们》到克莱夫·哈伯与武西·恩库贝合著的《校园暴力》。

• Cultural and scholarly bodies supporting its academic mission include the African Centre for Arts, Culture and Heritage Studies, the Museum of Anthropology and Archaeology, the Department of Music, the Unisa Space Art Gallery, and the Unisa Music Foundation.支撑其学术使命的文化与学术机构包括非洲艺术、文化与遗产研究中心、人类学与考古学博物馆、音乐学系、南非大学太空艺术画廊，以及南非大学音乐基金会。

Campus

• UNISA's Muckleneuk Campus in Pretoria is a major landmark of the capital, its most striking feature a long projection from the brow of the hill supported by a giant steel girder on a massive column.比勒陀利亚的穆克莱尼克校区是首都的重要地标，最醒目处是从山腰探出、由巨柱上一根巨型钢梁支撑的悬挑结构。

• The campus complex on Muckleneuk Ridge was designed in the 1960s by Bryan Sandrock Architects and expresses an international style marked by monumental proportions and cantilevered engineering feats.穆克莱尼克岭校区建筑群由 Bryan Sandrock 事务所于 1960 年代设计，以国际式风格呈现宏伟比例与悬臂工程。

• Also in Pretoria is the Sunnyside campus, the main area of student activity, while the Florida campus in Johannesburg serves as UNISA's science campus.比勒陀利亚另有桑尼赛德校区，是学生活动主区，约翰内斯堡的佛罗里达校区则为该校理学院所在地。

• The Florida science campus contains 12 buildings, a library, two auditoriums, and a large study area, along with a horticultural centre and a multipurpose research and training facility.佛罗里达校区含 12 栋建筑、一座图书馆、两间礼堂与一大片自习区，并设园艺中心与一座多用途研究培训中心。

• Aside from in-person campuses, the university offers correspondence learning, and it runs seven regional centres servicing students across all nine provinces of South Africa.除实体校区外，该校还提供函授学习，并运营七个区域中心，服务遍布南非九省的学子。

• Its regional centres cover the Eastern Cape in cities such as East London and Port Elizabeth, Free State in Bloemfontein, Gauteng around Pretoria and Johannesburg, and Kwazulu-Natal around Durban and Pietermaritzburg.其区域中心覆盖东开普的东伦敦、伊丽莎白港等市，自由州的布隆方丹，豪登的比勒陀利亚与约翰内斯堡，以及夸祖鲁-纳塔尔的德班与彼得马里茨堡。

• Further regional centres serve Limpopo at Polokwane, Northern Cape at Kimberley, North West at Potchefstroom and Mafikeng, Mpumalanga at Nelspruit, and Western Cape at Cape Town and George.其余区域中心位于林波波省波罗克瓦尼、北开普省金伯利、西北省波特切斯特鲁姆与马菲肯、姆普马兰加省内尔斯普雷特，以及西开普省开普敦与乔治。

• The university's Pretoria footprint is recorded at coordinates about 25.74 degrees south and 28.19 degrees east, its official web presence at the domain unisa.ac.za.该校比勒陀利亚据点坐标约在南纬 25.74 度、东经 28.19 度，官方网络门户位于 unisa.ac.za 域名。

Reputation

• In the QS World University Rankings 2027 the University of South Africa is placed in the 951-1000 band.在 2027 年 QS 世界大学排名中，南非大学位列第 951-1000 区间。

• In the Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2027 UNISA is placed in the 1201-1400 band, and in the 2026-2027 U.S. News Best Global Universities ranking it stands at 770 in the world.在 2027 年泰晤士高等教育世界大学排名中该校位于第 1201-1400 区间，在 2026-2027 年度 US News 全球最佳大学排名中列世界第 770 位。

• In the 2026 Academic Ranking of World Universities, the Shanghai Ranking, the University of South Africa is placed in the 801-900 band.在 2026 年软科世界大学学术排名中，南非大学位列第 801-900 区间。

• At the subject level the university's engineering qualifications are positioned within the Dublin and Sydney Accords framework, a discipline-specific standing distinct from its general rankings.就学科维度而言，该校的工程资格被置于都柏林与悉尼协议框架之内，这一单科定位有别于其综合排名。

• OpenAlex attributes to UNISA a corpus of 50,584 scholarly works that have accrued 946,449 citations, evidence of its large research output as an open-distance institution.据 OpenAlex 收录，该校累计学术著作 50584 篇、被引 946449 次，显示其作为开放远程院校的庞大科研产出。

• In 2015 the Times Higher Education ranked UNISA the 6th best university in South Africa and 6th in Africa among 30 institutions, a national-standing benchmark.2015 年泰晤士高等教育将该校列为南非第 6 佳、非洲受评 30 所中第 6，是其全国定位的一项基准。

• In hard honors the university counts two Nobel Peace Prize laureates among its alumni, Nelson Mandela and Desmond Tutu, an exceptional tally for any institution.就硬荣誉而言，该校校友中有两位诺贝尔和平奖得主，即纳尔逊·曼德拉与德斯蒙德·图图，对任何院校而言都是非凡之数。

• UNISA's qualifications carry international accreditation and are registered with the South African Qualifications Authority, underpinning the employability of its graduates across many countries.该校学历具国际认证并在南非资格管理局注册，为其毕业生在许多国家的就业能力提供支撑。

Student life

• As the largest university system in South Africa by enrolment, UNISA attracts about a third of all higher-education students in the country, the majority studying remotely rather than on campus.作为南非注册人数最大的大学体系，该校吸引全国约三分之一的高校学生，其中多数远程而非在校就读。

• Its students include South Africans and international learners from 130 countries, giving the campus community an unusually broad geographic and linguistic composition.其学生包括南非本土与来自 130 个国家的国际学习者，使校园社区具有异常广泛的地理与语言构成。

• UNISA upholds a policy of zero tolerance for dishonesty or cheating in assessments, prescribing cancelled modules, withdrawn marks, and up to a maximum five-year suspension.该校对考核中的不诚信与作弊持零容忍政策，规定可取消所修模块、撤销成绩，最长可停学五年。

• In recent times students blamed glitches in the institution's online invigilator application for disputed cheating cases, an inconsistency the university was investigating amid over 1,400 disciplinary files.近年学生将争议的作弊案归咎于在线监考应用的故障，在此逾 1400 份处分卷宗中校方正调查相关平台不一致之处。

• Since its inception in 1873 UNISA has promoted culture in all its manifestations, pursuing practical language, art and music skills through dedicated curricula and special courses and examinations.自 1873 年创校以来，该校便在各方面弘扬文化，透过专门课程规划与特别课程及考试推进实用的语言、艺术和音乐技能。

• UNISA's academic dress follows a British pattern, with bachelors, masters and honours in a black gown and black cap, and doctoral degrees in a cardinal red gown with open sleeves and a coloured tassel.该校学位服沿用英式传统，学士、硕士与荣誉学位着黑色学位袍与黑帽，博士则着敞袖的红衣主教红色袍并配学院色流苏。

• UNISA's academic dress follows a British pattern, with bachelors, masters and honours in a black gown and black cap, and doctoral degrees in a cardinal red gown with open sleeves and a coloured tassel.该校学位服沿用英式传统，学士、硕士与荣誉学位着黑色学位袍与黑帽，博士则着敞袖的红衣主教红色袍并配学院色流苏。

• The Unisa Foundation, established in 1966, has around 280 active donors, many individual alumni, with fundraising divisions in Gauteng, the Western Cape, and Kwazulu-Natal.1966 年成立的南非大学基金会约有 280 名活跃捐赠者，其中多为用户籍校友，并在豪登、西开普与夸祖鲁-纳塔尔设筹款分部。

Notable people

• Nelson Mandela, the first democratically elected president of South Africa and a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, is listed among the university's alumni, one of two Nobel winners the institution claims.纳尔逊·曼德拉是南非首位民主选举产生的总统、诺贝尔和平奖得主，名列该校校友，该校共拥有两位诺贝尔奖得主。

• Archbishop Desmond Tutu, the Nobel Peace Prize laureate and anti-apartheid figure, is the university's second recorded Nobel-winning alumnus.德斯蒙德·图图大主教是诺贝尔和平奖得主与反种族隔离人物，是该校第二位有记载的诺贝尔奖校友。

• Blade Nzimande, the Minister of Higher Education, Science and Technology, ordered the review of UNISA's governance and in October 2023 appointed an administrator for the institution.高等教育、科技部长布莱德·恩齐曼德下令复核该校治理，并于 2023 年 10 月为其任命管理员。

• Ihron Rensburg, a former vice-chancellor of the University of Johannesburg, was appointed by the minister as administrator of UNISA for a 24-month term.曾任约翰内斯堡大学副校长的伊龙·伦斯堡被部长任命为该校管理员，任期 24 个月。

• Sean Muller, a senior research fellow at the Johannesburg Institute of Advanced Study based at the University of Johannesburg, was a notable critic of placing UNISA under administration.设于约翰内斯堡大学的约翰内斯堡高等研究院高级研究员肖恩·穆勒，是将该校置于托管之下的著名批评者。

• Ramagoai Magano, the university's Vice Principal for Institutional Development, stated that most academic-dishonesty cases were committed by postgraduate students.负责机构发展的副校长拉马戈艾·马加诺表示，多数学术不端案件由研究生所为。

• Mandla Makhanya, a professor, and Divya Singh co-edited Essays in Online Education A Global Perspective published by UNISA Press, which is described as the largest university press in South Africa and Africa.曼德拉·马坎亚教授与迪维娅·辛格合编由该校出版社出版的《在线教育论文集：全球视角》，南非大学出版社被誉为南非与非洲最大的大学出版社。

• Among authors published by the press are Kalpana Hiralal, Thenjiwe Meyiwa, Madodo Cekiso, Colin T. Johnson, Clive Harber, and Vusi Mncube, spanning liberation history, onomastics, and education studies.该出版社著者包括卡尔帕娜·希拉勒、森吉韦·梅伊瓦、马多多·塞基索、科林·约翰逊、克莱夫·哈伯与武西·恩库贝，题材遍及解放史、姓名学与教育研究。

• As an open-access institution, UNISA gave tertiary education to people irrespective of race or colour despite South Africa's apartheid history, a mission the sources cite as its strongest positive attraction.作为一所开放入学机构，南非大学在种族隔离历史下仍不分肤色向所有人提供高等教育，资料称这一使命是它最强的正面吸引力。