UP at a glance The University of Pretoria came into existence in 1908 as the Pretoria branch of the Transvaal University College. The College became a fully-fledged university in 1930 and the colloquial name Tuks, or Tukkies, was derived from the acronym TUC (Transvaal University College). Currently UP has more than 600 buildings spread over approximately 1 200 ha of land on six campuses.
degrees and 16% of all doctoral degrees in the country were awarded by UP. In 2010 UP contributed 29% of all engineers (with BEng degrees), 16% of all healthcare professionals, 18% of all natural scientists and all the veterinary scientists in the country. (These figures exclude graduates from the comprehensive universities and the universities of technology).
UP has nine faculties and a business school: • Economic and Management Sciences, • Education, • Engineering, Built Environment and Information Technology, • Health Sciences, • Humanities, • Law, • Natural and Agricultural Sciences, • Theology, • Veterinary Science (the only faculty of its kind in South Africa), and • the Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS).
The rich cultural diversity of the South African population is reflected in the total UP student population of 62 500* students. Of 45 000* contact students 54.9% are female and 45.9% are black. Lectures are presented in either English or Afrikaans. Sepedi is used as a language of communication.
The academic programmes are offered in 140 academic departments and 85 centres, institutes and bureaux. UP offers 230 qualifications involving more than 1 669 academic study programmes. UP had 326* undergraduate and 1 343* postgraduate programmes. Nearly 13 700* undergraduate and postgraduate degrees, certificates and diplomas were awarded by UP. These included 5 677 postgraduate degrees and 206 doctoral degrees. The University is a values-based, research-intensive university which equips its students to succeed in a rapidly changing world by providing them with inquiry-led training and learning opportunities. In the 103 years since its establishment, the University has produced almost 220 000 alumni. In 2010, 15% of all three-year bachelor’s degrees, 14% of all professional four-year bachelor’s degrees, 18% of all master’s
The University has 18 000 distance education students. Some 4 000 contact students are international students of whom 67% are from Southern African Development Community Countries. UP students had access to more than R400 million* in financial aid for their studies. TuksSport administers ten sports academies and 30 sports clubs with a combined membership of 9 000 students. High-profile national and international sports stars receive professional assistance with their training programmes at the High Performance Centre (hpc). UP Arts is responsible for the promotion of arts and culture and facilitates and supports the integration of the art and heritage resources of the University into teaching, learning and research. The three units in this Department are music and dance ensembles, museums and theatres. UP2025 The University of Pretoria’s new long-term Strategic Plan UP2025, captures the essence of a shared vision, aiming to sustain UP’s quality and relevance as a university that is firmly rooted in Africa, and to harness its existing and future diversity potential. UP strives to ensure that it is recognised in the global marketplace of knowledge production. * In 2011
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