Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University

I have seen more then a couple of people on here who had NMMU listed after a graduate degree and was wondering if anyone could tell me about this South African school. I read that they have a DBA that is 100% thesis and no courses to study. Would I only need to show up in person once to pick my thesis, and then at the end for my viva?

 

South Africa uses the British system for higher education, meaning that most doctoral degrees are research only; you research and write the dissertation (they call it a thesis), defend it, and that's it. It sounds much easier than it is, but those are the basic steps.

If you're looking at SA degrees, you'd be remiss if you didn't include the University of South Africa in your search, they have a much wider selection of programs, and much better name recognition;

Unisa Online

 

I find the University of South Africa surprising. I have worked with a few South Africans, and they have all talked about UNISA as if it was substandard and nothing but a joke. They were the ones who told me to look at NMMU instead.

 

I've worked with people who feel that all public universities are a joke and anyone who attended one simply couldn't get into a "good" school.

Academic snobbery exists around the world. People who partake in it can often be excellent sources of information but that doesn't mean you should take advice from them.

 

There was a big shake up in the higher education system in South Africa back in 2005. This resulted in a bunch of university mergers with the end product being a smaller number of larger schools. NMMU was one of these products. It was the product of a merger between the Port Elizabeth Technikon, the University of Port Elizabeth and a portion of Vista University. I've never heard anything bad about this school and so there's no reason to suggest you look elsewhere. However, before you form a bad opinion of UNISA you may want to look at these rankings. (if you believe that rankings mean much)
Top Universities in South Africa | 2016 Reviews & Rankings
South Africa | Ranking Web of Universities
What are South Africa's top universities? | Special Reports | M&G
I'd also suggest that you do some serious research on what it actually means to do a thesis-only doctoral degree. It's actually a lengthy, arduous process that many people do not complete. If, on the other hand, you do complete that process you'd have a degree to be proud of as it is quite an accomplishment.

 

More of an update thanks to some research then a response. I found that there are two triple crowned universities in South Africa. The University of Cape Town and The University of Stellenbosch. Had anyone had any experience with either of these schools? Being triple crowned, I'm not concerned about their programs, just the experience being an American doing their program.

 

I don't think either school offers external degrees. I could be wrong on that, but I've looked both schools up before and can't find any mention of it on their websites.

 

Following the British education system it should 100%dissertation + viva I think. They may require me to stay in South Africa just to type it? That would be depressing..