Monash South Africa

Monash South Africa

Type	Private university
Established	2001
Administrative staff	220 (80 academics)
Students	4,000
Location	Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa
Affiliations	Laureate International Universities, Monash University
Website	http://www.msa.ac.za/

Monash South Africa is a private university founded in 2001, located on a 100 hectare site in Ruimsig in north-west Johannesburg, in the province of Gauteng. The student mix at Monash South Africa is diverse. In addition to domestic (South African) students, it is also home to many students from other African countries. For example, a large number of students from Botswana attend. Furthermore, the number of students on exchange from Monash's Australian and Malaysian campuses makes it one of the most ethnically diverse education providers in Africa.

In August 2013, Monash South Africa announced that it will partner with Laureate Education. The current Academic President of the South Africa site is Professor Alwyn Louw and the CEO is Sharad Mehra.

Beginning in the 1990s, Monash University in Melbourne, Australia began an extensive internationalisation program. Vice-Chancellor at the time, David Robinson, aspired for Monash to have campuses on every continent. The University's Malaysia Campus was the first of these, with plans for an African offering developing in the late 1990s. In 2001, it became the first international university to gain registration to operate in South Africa.

The plan was initially opposed by some of the staff at Monash's Australian campuses, who were concerned that millions was being poured into overseas ventures, while staff were being made redundant in Australia.

The campus has expanded rapidly since its establishment in 2001. In its first intake, Monash South Africa took on just over 100 students. By 2008, there were over 2,200 students, and the operations are expanding to keep up with a demand for places which is increasing by 35% per year. A new library and learning commons were opened in 2007. Initially, Monash South Africa taught only a limited range of undergraduate degrees. In 2006, honours programs were introduced. Monash South Africa is the only private institution to receive South African Institute of Chartered Accountants (SAICA) accreditation for its accounting degree.

The University is also developing research capacity, developing research nodes in water, injury prevention and global movements. Its research output (various projects and scholarly publications) is increasing, with the ambition of becoming one of the most research-intensive sites in Africa.