Beware of unaccredited colleges and universities

It’s that time of the year when students across the country will look for study opportunities  for the new academic year at various higher education institutions. It’s very easy for students to become victims of unaccredited or fly-by-night private institutions and must ensure the institution they intended studying with is credible.

Accredited private institutions must be able to show you the following:

• A certificate of registration with the Department of Higher Education and Training. It should detail the campus, provider and the qualifications offered.
• All higher education qualifications need to be accredited by the Higher Education Quality Committee of the Council on Higher Education. If they are not accredited they will not appear on the certificate referred to above. There is no other document detailing the accreditation, which is why checking if the qualification is on the certificate is an important step.
• All qualifications must be registered on the National Qualifications Framework (NQF) by South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA) –  students should ask for the SAQA NQF identity numbers.
• All private Further Education and Training Colleges (FET Colleges) must be accredited by Umalusi. Umalusi accredits private providers of education and training as well as private assessment bodies to offer tuition and/or assessment for qualification(s) on the General and Further Education and Training Qualification Framework.