Parents dig deeper to pay private institutions as public universities struggle to meet demand

Thousands of students and their parents are having to dig deeper into their pockets to pay for studies at private tertiary educational institutions as full-house signs go up at universities around the country.

Only 20% of 2016 matric graduates were able to register at the 24 public universities.

One former Durban High School pupil will have to pay R72,500 for the first year of his bachelor of law course at Varsity College's Durban North campus, which is about R30,000 more than he would have paid at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, had he been accepted.

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The teenager's father said that, although he had tried to prepare financially for his son's university education, he had not taken into account the demand for places at public universities.

His son, who scored Bs and Cs in his matric exam, applied in time at the universities of Johannesburg, Pretoria and KwaZulu-Natal to study for a BCom law degree but was rejected by KwaZulu-Natal and Pretoria.

The University of KwaZulu-Natal course would cost between R40,000 and R45,000 as against Varsity College's R72,500 this year - just for the tuition. Textbooks and additional stationery or technology would be extra.

A first-year BCom law course costs R72,500 at Varsity College and R79,900 at Monash SA.

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At Wits, the average tuition fees in the faculty of commerce, law and management range from R44,740 to R51,380, and about R39,170 for BCom Law at UKZN.

Louise Wiseman, managing director of Varsity College, said its costs were higher because it had no state subsidy and fees were its only source of income.

Pietermaritzburg student Muhammed Seepye said he chose to go to Varsity College to study for a BCom in financial management because of smaller class sizes and not having to worry about strikes disrupting lectures.

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"Another plus is that students are forced to attend lectures because there is a register that must be signed," said Seepye.

Nic Spaull, an education researcher at Stellenbosch University, said that between 2009 and 2016 the number of university-eligible graduates had increased from about 100,000 to more than 160,000.

"That's over 60% up but university enrolment has expanded from about 5% to only 10%.

"So it's not surprising the private sector has expanded to absorb some of the demand overflow for higher education."