UCT is Africa’s most international university

The University of Cape Town (UCT) is the 57th most international university in the world. This is according to the annual list published by Times Higher Education (THE) this week. UCT is also the only university in Africa to make the cut.

As one of the most international universities in the world, UCT has a high proportion of international students and staff, collaborates on research with scholars across the world, and has a strong reputation globally.

“This recognition as one of the most international universities globally demonstrates UCT’s close and long-standing collaborations with leading universities and research centres across the continent and the world,” said UCT Deputy Vice-Chancellor for Research and Internationalisation Professor Sue Harrison. “One of the university’s aims, as part of our Vision 2030, is to help bring African knowledge generation and thought leadership to the world. And a global footprint is critical to doing so.

“Maintaining an international environment can be especially challenging for universities in low- and middle-income countries, but we continue to look for creative ways to hold this position and will work to leverage it to foster and build new and stronger relationships across Africa and the world for the benefit of the continent.

“Prospective students looking to study in an international environment would do well to look to UCT.”

“One of the university’s aims, as part of our Vision 2030, is to help to bring African knowledge generation and thought leadership to the world.”

The data used by THE to develop this list are drawn largely from its World University Rankings 2023. It uses information about the university’s proportion of international students (25%), international staff (25%), journal publications with at least one international co-author (25%) and international reputation (25%).

The three most international universities in the world are the University of Hong Kong (Hong Kong; first), École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (Switzerland; second) and ETH Zurich (Switzerland; third).

UCT ranks highly consistently

During 2022, THE placed UCT at 160th globally in its 2023 World University Rankings, a leap up from 183rd in the previous year. This position as the leading university in Africa mirrors UCT’s standing in other international rankings, including the Centre for World University Rankings, Quacquarelli Symonds World University Rankings, ShanghaiRanking’s Academic Ranking of World Universities and US News & World Report Best Global Universities Rankings.

See the complete THE list of the most international universities in the world 2023 and learn more about the methodology.