University of Pretoria

History

The Pretoria branch of the Transvaal University College (TUC) was the forerunner of the University of Pretoria. (The nickname for this university - Tuks or Tukkies - is derived from the TUC acronym.)

The college commenced its activities as an Afrikaans language institution in 1908 with a staff consisting of four professors and three lecturers. Thirty-two students were enrolled for courses at the first campus, Kya Rosa, a house in the centre of the Pretoria.

The University of Pretoria became a fully fledged university in 1930.

As in all other sections of South African society, considerable transformation has taken place here since the first multi-racial elections were held in 1994. This resulted in the transfomation of the university from a mainly white, Afrikaans institution, to a national university in the true sense of the word, accessible to all South Africans.

Student Profile

In 2001, there were 30 212 residential students registered for contact teaching at the University. Of this number, 21 297 were undergraduates and 8 915 were postgraduates.

The gender composition during this year was 47% male and 53% female students. There were 69% white students and 31% black students. Of the total of 9 392 black students, 5 937 were undergraduate, and 3 455 postgraduate students.

Regarding language preference, 54% (approximately 16 000) of the residential students preferred to receive their tuition in Afrikaans and 46% (approximately 14 000) in English.

This student profile places the university in the unique position of not only being the largest Afrikaans residential university in the South Africa but also, at the same time, being one of the largest English and one of the largest black residential universities in the country.

In addition to the residential students, more than 29 000 students - of whom 95% were black - were enrolled in the University's distance education programmes in 2001, mainly in the Faculty of Education.

In 2001 there were also more than 1 000 international students on campus, representing 60 countries. More than 400 came from SADC countries and approximately 250 from other African countries.

Faculties

List of faculties:

• Economic and Management Sciences
• Education
• Engineering, the Built Environment and Information Technology
• Health Sciences
• Humanities
• Law
• Natural and Agricultural Sciences
• Theology
• Veterinary Sciences

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