Based in Johannesburg, Wits University is one of the country's leading research institutions, attracting students from across Africa. Wits has produced more than 120 000 graduates across a range of disciplines since being granted full university status in 1922.

The university, with about 28 000 students, offers degrees in the faculties of engineering and the built environment; science; the humanities; health sciences; as well as commerce, law and management. The highly regarded Wits Business School is one of the oldest in South Africa.

Wits is also home to one of the largest fossil collections in the southern hemisphere and its Institute for Human Evolution is dedicated to palaeoanthropological research.

Wits has a reputation built on research and academic excellence. Wits is one of only two universities in Africa ranked in two separate international rankings as a leading institution in the world and is the only university in the country that features in the top 1% in the world in seven defined fields of research according to the 2007 ISI international rankings. Wits is also the recipient of the highest levels of external financial support of all universities in the country, from donors and partners all over the world - testimony to the high esteem in which we are held internationally.

• The University is structured into five Faculties which comprise 34 Schools.
• The University library system comprises two main libraries and 14 divisional libraries. Students have access to 1,000,000 book volumes, 400,000 journal titles and 46,000 new electronic resources.
• Wits vast campuses are spread over 400 hectares in Braamfontein and Parktown.
• The University has 18 residences which accommodate 20% of the student population.
• Wits is committed to further developing its institutional infrastructure in line with national priorities to develop high level and scarce skills in the country. It has recently completed various capital projects including new buildings for the Wits Art Museum, the School of Public Health, the 4th quadrant of the Chamber of Mines building and the FNB Building upgrade.
• Wits has two commercial companies, Wits Enterprise and the Wits Health Consortium, offering opportunities for contract research, short courses and tailor-made business solutions for the public and private sectors.

ACHIEVEMENTS

• Wits exceeds the national norms in terms of enrolments in the Science, Engineering and Technology fields and is very close to having half of all our enrolments accommodated in these areas.
• The Wits Business School has entered into a partnership with the London Business School, one of the world's top ranked Business Schools, to run an International Executive Development Programme. The Professorial Chair in Entrepreneurship and a Centre for Entrepreneurship was also established at the WBS.
• The School of Accountancy at Wits University has achieved an average pass rate of 90% in part one and 80% in part two of the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants (SAICA) qualifying exam over the past eight years. Wits students continue to dominate the top 10 positions in the SAICA exams.