Stellenbosch University

Stellenbosch University

Universiteit Stellenbosch or Stellenbosch Universiteit
Motto	Latin: Pectora roborant cultus recti
Motto in English	"A sound education strengthens the spirit"
Type	Public
Established	2 April 1918; 106 years ago (1918-04-02)
Endowment	ZAR 5.04 Billion [1]
Chancellor	Edwin Cameron
Vice-Chancellor	Wim de Villiers
Academic staff	1028[2]
Administrative staff	2183[2]
Undergraduates	25,042[3]
Postgraduates	10,051[3]
Location	Stellenbosch , Western Cape , South Africa (SA) 33°55′58″S 18°51′51″E / 33.93278°S 18.86417°E / -33.93278; 18.86417
Campus	2 suburban, 2 urban and 1 rural
Colours	Maroon
Nickname	Maties
Affiliations	AAU ACU CHEC HESA IAU
Mascot	Pokkel[4]
Website	www.sun.ac.za

Stellenbosch University (SU) (Afrikaans: Universiteit Stellenbosch, Xhosa: iYunivesithi yaseStellenbosch) is a public research university situated in Stellenbosch, a town in the Western Cape province of South Africa. Stellenbosch is the oldest university in South Africa and the oldest extant university in Sub-Saharan Africa, which received full university status in 1918.^[5] Stellenbosch University designed and manufactured Africa's first microsatellite, SUNSAT, launched in 1999.^[6]

Stellenbosch is organised in 139 departments across 10 faculties offering bachelor's (NQF 7) to doctoral degrees (NQF 10) in the English and Afrikaans language.^[7][8] Across five campuses in the Western Cape, the university is home to 32,000 students.

The students of Stellenbosch University are nicknamed "Maties". The term probably arises from the Afrikaans word "tamatie" (meaning tomato, and referring to the maroon sports uniforms and blazer colour). An alternative theory is that the term comes from the Afrikaans colloquialism maat (meaning "buddy" or "mate"), originally used diminutively ("maatjie") by the students of the University of Cape Town's precursor, the South African College.^[9]