overview
To pursue the regional higher education agenda and to continue to attract funding for regional capacity development programmes.

Although SARUA has motivated to the SADC Ministers for government support in 2017, such a decision has not yet been forthcoming. SARUA therefore relies on membership contributions to underwrite its operational costs. SARUA operates with a small, but sufficiently capacitated internal team.

SARUA membership fees are calculated using a fair and equitable fee formula based on student numbers (headcount enrolments) and the World Bank’s Classification of Countries according to GNI per Capita, as agreed by members at the SARUA Triennial General Meeting.

Categorisation of SADC Countries according to GNI

The Classification of SADC countries follows the method used by the World Bank which identifies four country bands according to the Gross National Income per Capita:

Country Band
Country BandSADC Countries 
Band 4SeychellesHigh Income Countries
Band 3Botswana, Mauritius, Namibia South AfricaUpper Middle Income Countries
Band 2Angola, Eswatini, Lesotho, Tanzania, ZimbabweLower Middle Income Countries
Band 1Democratic Republic of Congo, Madagascar, Malawi, Mozambique, ZambiaLower Income Countries
SARUA Membership Fees 2023
 Category 1Category 2Category 3Category 4Category 5
Country Band<5000
Students
5001 - 10 000
Students
10 001 - 20 000
Students
20 001 - 30 000
Students
> 30 000
Students
Band 3$1800$3600$5400$6600$7500
Band 2$1260$2520$3780$4680$5520
Band 1$960$1920$2880$3600$4200
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