Teaching seems to be the most popular degree among last year' s matric pupils.
Although the profession was shunned by matrics years ago, eight universities confirmed that the four-year, bachelor of education degree was in huge demand this year.
Eight universities received almost 57000 applications for 5053 places.
Among them was the University of KwaZulu-Natal, which received 20000 applications, Durban University of Technology 10547; University of the Witwatersrand 6754; University of Pretoria 6000; and North West University 3238.
Professor Irma Eloff, dean of education at the University of Pretoria, said: "It's a very flexible qualification. It prepares students not just for teaching but for lots of career opportunities."
She said government's Funza Lushaka bursary scheme for aspiring teachers was also playing a role in attracting the larger numbers.
"In maths, science and African languages, we still need to increase numbers substantially," she said.
In total, 22 of the 24 contact universities received almost 750000 applications for degrees and diplomas across all disciplines. There are only 127827 places available.
The University of Mpumalanga in Nelspruit and Sol Plaatje University in Northern Cape, which open their doors this year, are expected to register 240 and 124 students respectively.
Other popular degrees include medicine, for which there were 38114 applications for only 1710 places at eight universities.
Carl Herman, director of admissions at the University of Cape Town, said: "All institutions establish admission criteria for undergraduate programmes over and above the statutory requirement."
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