University of the Witwatersrand
public research university in Johannesburg, South Africa
The University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg (), commonly known as Wits University or Wits, is a leading multi-campus public research university situated in the economic hub of Johannesburg, South Africa. It is known for its academic and research excellence, commitment to social justice, and the advancement of the public good. It was ranked the top university in South Africa and 200th globally in July 2026, according to the Center for World University Rankings (CWUR), a widely accepted objective university ranking standard. Wits University has been recognised as the top-ranked university in sub-Saharan Africa for innovation performance in the 2025 Global Innovation Index.
The university has its roots in the mining industry, as do Johannesburg and the Witwatersrand in general. Founded in 1896 as the South African School of Mines in Kimberley, it is the third oldest South African university in continuous operation.
The university has an enrollment of 41,702 students as of 2025, of which approximately 20 percent on campus in the university's 17 residences. About 61 percent (25,835) of the university's total enrollment is for undergraduate study, with 39 percent (15,867) being postgraduate or occasional students. The university assists students to access higher education as far as its resources allow. The university has an acceptance rate of approximately 4.5%, having received 140,000 applications but only having accepted 6,300 students.
“University of the Witwatersrand” enters the record as public research university in Johannesburg, South Africa. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what University, Witwatersrand and public can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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Chronology, provenance and viewpoint should be read together before a broad social or political interpretation is accepted. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 12, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q534643. VIAF identifies the subject as 159080127. The Library of Congress control number is n80024155. Authority coordinates are -26.191, 28.030. 3 of 5 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2026, 2025 and 1896.
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This entry incorporates text from “University of the Witwatersrand” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.