The Hardman Rankings

← World University Rankings 2026

Stellenbosch University

South AfricaROR 05bk57929
=898
World University Rankings 2026 · 90% range 498–1722 of 2,287 · score 35.2
Research Index =921

How it scores

Research
60
Alumni outcomes
65
Admissions & earnings
est.

Research and Alumni outcomes are percentiles among 2,287 universities; alumni outcomes are counted per student. Admissions & earnings is the position among universities in the same country.

No official admissions or earnings data is used for this university yet. Its in-country score is estimated from its standing among its own country’s universities on the global measures.

Admissions, outcomes and alumni

Internationally notable alumni (Wikidata)
5 src
Heads of state or government (Wikidata)
2 src
Founders, billionaires and $30M+ alumni
not on the published top lists; estimated
Students (undergraduate / total)
25,042 / 35,093 src (low confidence: Wikipedia)

Each figure links to its source. Admissions and earnings figures are comparable only within a country.

Research Index

A · Quality
23.4
B · Strength
52.8

Percentiles among 1,305 ranked universities. Rank on quality alone: 1011. On strength alone: =616. The Research Index scores research only; admissions, earnings and alumni outcomes are scored in the overall ranking where data exists.

The numbers behind it (2020–2023)

Papers in the top 10% of their field
7.3% (6.8%–7.9%)
Papers in the top 1% of their field
0.7% (0.5%–0.8%)
Top-10% papers (fractional count)
342
All papers (fractional count)
4,668
International co-authored
60.8%
Open access
68.7%
Papers from 2020–23 since retracted
2 (0.15 per 1,000)

Core publications, fractional counting, field-normalised citation shares. Brackets show Leiden’s stability interval. Collaboration and open-access shares use full counting and aren’t field-normalised. Retraction counts come from the Retraction Watch database and include publishers’ mass retractions as well as honest-error retractions; a retraction is not by itself evidence of misconduct, and the count is never scored.

By field

Biomedical & health sciences=737range 585–912 of 1,671
Life & earth sciences782range 651–872 of 1,092
Mathematics & computer science=1157range 1001–1256 of 1,391
Physical sciences & engineering=820range 621–1101 of 1,742
Social sciences & humanities=930range 769–1016 of 1,262

Position over time

bottom2006–2009: 429 of 5712020–2023: 921 of 1,305

The same method applied to each 4-year publication window. The number of ranked universities grows from period to period, so position is shown as a share of the field.

How other rankings place it

=921Research Index 2026
–QS 2027 (not in top 100)
–THE 2027 (not in top 100)
–ARWU 2026 (not in top 100)

Other rankings are cited for comparison. The Research Index measures research only; QS and THE also use reputation surveys and figures universities submit, and ARWU counts prize winners and total output.

Prize winners

No Nobel, Fields, Turing or Abel laureates linked to this university in Wikidata.