Nelson Mandela University is ideally located and offers a vast variety of programmes in a multi-cultural and caring environment.

• Our location: Six of Nelson Mandela University’s campuses are in Nelson Mandela Bay and one is located in George. Both are ideal places to spend your student years, offering all the advantages of city living in a friendly and safe environment in spectacular natural surroundings – from beaches and mountains to game reserves and indigenous forest.
• Our learning experience: Nelson Mandela University has more than 500 study programmes, including several fields in which we excel. We are well-known for art and design, building, chartered accounting, engineering, health and environmental sciences and information technology. We hold the SA Research Chairs in nanophotonics, automotive engineering, mechatronics and HIV/Aids in Education. Many programmes include workplace experience as part of the curriculum, giving you the advantage of being able to walk straight into the real world of work.
• Our multiculturalism: We are the most diverse university in South Africa, with African students coming from 34 countries on the continent. We network with leading institutions around the globe to ensure that our students are prized players wherever they find themselves in the job market.
• We care: Nelson Mandela University offers a variety of social and cultural activities, which means you can have fun while you study. There is an extensive range of associations, cultural societies, sport clubs and facilities, allowing you to make new friends, interact with fellow students and explore subjects of mutual interest.

A wide range of student services and support facilities are offered to assist you in every aspect of student life.

Students have access to well-equipped laboratories for specific subjects, lecture halls, libraries, counselling and health services, cafeterias, food courts and coffee shops. Nelson Mandela University also accommodates people with disabilities.

Nelson Mandela University offers a variety of social and cultural activities, which means you can have fun while you study. There are associations, societies, clubs and facilities, allowing you to make new friends while exploring subjects of mutual interest.

Nelson Mandela University’s mascot is Diba the dolphin. Our sporting teams and those who also work and study at Nelson Mandela University proudly refer themselves as Madibaz.

Inspired by the leadership qualities of Nelson Mandela in the transformation to democracy in South Africa, Nelson Mandela University has six core values which give us direction as to how we should behave. They are:

• Diversity
• Excellence
• Ubuntu
• Social justice and equality
• Integrity
• Environmental stewardship

The university offers staff, students and visitors 24-hour security on all its campuses. In order to ensure the safety of everyone on campus the following measures have been implemented:

• Staff and student cards are used to gain access to campuses and all residences;
• Visitors sign in and out when entering the university;
• Signage warns you not to feed any of the animals on campus;
• Entry to all Nelson Mandela University’s campus is controlled;
• Security guards are posted all around all Nelson Mandela University campuses and at residences;
• Security guards are available to chaperone students within the campus perimeter;
• A scheduled transport shuttle service links all campuses during office hours;

Students must also play their part in staying safe by doing the following:

• Do not walk alone at night – walk with a friend;
• When you leave your room, please lock the door;

Students are encouraged to take care of their own possessions.

A wide range of student services and support facilities are offered on Nelson Mandela University campuses to assist both prospective and current students in every aspect of student life. Students have access to well-equipped laboratories for specific subjects, computer laboratories (some open 24 hours), lecture halls, cafeterias, food courts and coffee shops.

These services include, among others:

• Library and Information Services
• Campus Health Services
• Emthonjeni - Fountain of Student Wellness
• Arts, Culture & Heritage Unit 
• Student Development & Governance
• Student Representative Council (SRC)
• Universal Accessibility & Disability Services (UADS)
• Societies
• Madibaz Sport

Nelson Mandela University would like to ensure that differently abled students enjoy a successful student experience, thus we strive to ensure that academic concessions, reasonable adjustments for general accessibility, test and examinations and other academic concessions, are made to meet your needs. Services currently available include assistive technologies, dedicated computer spaces equipped with assistive technologies, braille transcription support, adapted transport for those with mobility difficulties, and volunteer buddies amongst other.

As every case needs to be individually assessed, please register your special needs with the university’s Universal Accessibility & Disability Services (UADS) as soon as possible, preferably the year prior to application and registration. At your first appointment, you will need to provide valid medical documentation and/or assessment reports from appropriate health professionals. The goal of the consultations between students and the UADS is to identify the impact of a disability or condition on the students’ academic performance and to maximise opportunities for independent participation.

What can we offer you?

• Support consultation sessions to determine all support required during your academic journey;
• Assessment sessions for the verification of reasonable accommodations/concessions needed.
• Referrals to Emthonjeni - Fountain of Student Wellness for further consultations, when necessary.
• Orientation and information sessions on various services, support, and technologies available; 
• Facilitation of support services, such as assistive technology, braille support, orientation and mobility training, access to facilities, academic support concessions, adapted transport, and identifying appropriate student housing spaces according to the disability.

Bursaries for students with disabilities are available, via an online application process, through NSFAS (www.nsfas.org.za). Please contact the Universal Accessibility & Disability Services (UADS) on 041 504 2313/ 4756/ 2562 or E-mail: disability@mandela.ac.za for further information.

The university strives to make as much information and as many services available to students in order to better equip them after they have graduated. One such initiative is the Graduate and Student Placement division which assists graduates in finding suitable employment after graduation by hosting a number of events on-campus including: the graduate recruitment programme and careers fair, law recruitment programme and internal and external ad hoc placements.