University of Cape Town International Students Liability
Automatic qualification for local fees:
SA citizens – must have valid SA ID Book (passport or birth certificate are not sufficient).
SA permanent residents – must have valid SA ID Book (passport or birth certificate are not sufficient).
Diplomats and their dependants stationed in SA – local fees only apply whilst diplomatic status is valid. Proof required each year.
Official refugees – only applicable once they have been granted Official Refugee Status. ID Book/Papers required as proof.
Children and spouses of UCT employees – pay local fees. This would only be for permanent employees of UCT in terms of employment benefits given. This benefit would correlate to employment benefit status (i.e. exclude T1 contract staff).
International fees and other cases:
People married to SA citizens or permanent residents – pay SA fees only once they themselves have obtained SA Citizenship or Permanent Residency.
Same-sex marriages to SA citizen or permanent resident – pay SA fees only once they themselves have obtained SA Citizenship or Permanent Residency.
Life partnerships to SA citizen or permanent resident – pay SA fees only once they themselves have obtained SA Citizenship or Permanent Residency.
Asylum seekers – will need to be dealt with on a case-by-case basis. After an extended period in SA it needs to be judged whether or not an expectation of official refugee status has been created.
Pay dates: Students should pay according to their residence status as at UCT January registration.
Postgraduate registrations during other times of the year will be dealt with according to student arrival date at UCT.
Categories that pay international fees
Everybody else not mentioned above, including but not limited to:
SA taxpayers (i.e. only pay SA tax, e.g. contract workers or temporary residents). The criterion of paying tax is not sufficient for a reduction in international fees.
SADC taxpayers – Taxpaying per se is not a sufficient condition for exemption from international fees.
SA and SADC temporary residents – If they are required to renew their residence status periodically, then they cannot be considered permanent residents of the country.
SA permanent resident applications under review (including those married to SA resident/citizen) – There is no guarantee that Permanent Residence status will be granted. Until such status is granted, International Fees apply. Note that status at registration determines fees paid.
International affiliates enter SA on a Visitor’s Visa, and as such they cannot register for courses (they are Technically Registered). Please consult the Fees Handbook.
How international fees are calculated
This serves as a summary of how your fees will be calculated. It still remains your responsibility to consult the official UCT Fee Handbook for 2015 for the comprehensive explanations and rules relating to fees.
UCT calculates fees based on the courses for which students enrol. For international students from outside the SADC region studying towards a UCT degree or qualification, an international term fee is levied in addition to the course fees. It should be noted that UCT offers scholarships to international master’s and PhD students. Applications can be made through the applicable faculty. These scholarships can considerably reduce the international term fee component.
Non-SADC students are thus required to pay an international term fee plus their course fees. All fees are levied annually – see below for further details.
It is important to note that there is no change to the policy surrounding who is liable for international fees. Fee accounts will be made up in South African rands (ZAR) and comprise the following: tuition plus International Term Fee plus any further charges if applicable (such as UCT accommodation, clubs, societies, parking, library, etc.).
Non-SADC students liable for international fees
International degree/qualification-seeking student fee accounts will comprise the sum of these components:
- Course fees: these will be dependent on courses selected. Each course has its own charge, and your course fees component will be the sum of the cost of all the courses that you register for.
- International term fee: this is the international fee component levied by UCT, in ZAR. This is a per annum fee.
- Other charges levied: these will include items such as student accommodation, societies, parking, clubs, and fines incurred, etc.
Minimum initial payments
These are due prior to registration or by 07 February 2014, whichever date occurs first.
| Undergraduate degrees full-time international fee paying students | R75 000 |
| Honours degrees full-time international fee paying students | R75 000 |
| Masters (Coursework and Dissertation) full-time international fee paying students | R47 500 |
| Masters (Dissertation only) full-time international fee paying students full fees PLUS | R3 275 |
| PhD full-time SADC students full fees PLUS PhD full-time non-SADC students full fees PLUS |
R3275 R3275 |
Please check the Fees Handbook for more details.
Obtain course and/or dissertation codes from the relevant UCT department/faculty, not IAPO. Refer to the Fees Handbook for prices per course, rules surrounding payments, residence and international term fees.
