About Mancosa
Brief History
MANCOSA is a private higher education institution registered in terms of the Higher Education Act (Act 101 of 1997 as amended). It was established in 1995 as a post-apartheid empowerment institution offering affordable and accessible management education primarily to persons previously denied access to postgraduate education.
In 2002, MANCOSA received accreditation for its programmes from the Higher Education Quality Committee (HEQC), the quality committee of the Council on Higher Education (CHE). MANCOSA is a leading provider of management programmes through supported distance learning in Southern Africa. It has in excess of 10 000 students currently enrolled on its programmes.
1995
Entered the private higher education sector as a post-apartheid empowerment institution
1995 – 2000
Provide management programmes in association with the Buckinghamshire Chilterns University College
2000
2002
Received accreditation from the Higher Education Quality Committee (HEQC)
2004
First bachelor degree launched into the market
2014
Opened its Graduate School of Business [GSB]
2014
Reach 10,000 enrolled student
2016
Received Zambia accreditation
2017
Joined Honoris United Universities
Received Malawi accreditation
2018
MBA achieve Top 10 in Africa Status
MANCOSA has extensive experience in working with a wide range of students over the past 25 years in delivering high-quality management and education programmes offered locally and internationally. The Master of Business Administration (MBA) programme has been offered since 1995.
Between 1995 and 2000 MANCOSA provided management programmes in association with the Buckinghamshire Chilterns University College (BCUC), a College of the University of Brunel in the United Kingdom. During this 5-year period, MANCOSA successfully delivered tuition support to over 860 students enrolled on the Buckinghamshire Chilterns University College management programmes. At that time, MANCOSA was successfully quality assured by the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education of the United Kingdom (QAA).
MANCOSA’s partnership with BCUC in offering management programmes and the MBA provided an international perspective to students in the Southern African region, whilst maintaining a strong local and regional focus. From the year 2000, MANCOSA discontinued offering BCUC qualifications and started to award its own qualifications which were registered and accredited in South Africa.
In delivering its range of management education programmes to a diverse body of students from both the public and private sectors, MANCOSA has considerably developed its infrastructural, academic and intellectual capacities. Drawn from commerce, industry and academia, the programmes have access to a large group of high-quality academics, supervisors and mentors in management and leadership.
In October 2014, MANCOSA formally opened its Graduate School of Business [GSB] in Durban. The vision behind establishing the Mancosa [GSB] was the creation of a niche campus focusing exclusively on postgraduate education in business management with emphasis on the promotion of international collaborative higher education; international study tours; executive education and research. In addition to international benchmarking activities, the graduate school of the business campus was envisaged to promote programmes relevant to postgraduate business education, hence the creation of the Mancosa [GSB]. The intention is to allow for a differentiated student learning experience between postgraduate and undergraduate education and the Mancosa [GSB] will enable this to happen. Many postgraduate students hold senior positions in industry and a differentiated learning experience through the Mancosa [GSB] is appropriate.
The following additional factors provide an overview of MANCOSA’s operations:
- MANCOSA academics have industry experience and expertise to ensure that students receive continuous support and guidance.
- MANCOSA utilises a blended teaching strategy, drawing on the value of independent learning through specially designed materials, limited face-to-face workshops as well as optimising the students learning experience through a bespoke educational technology ecosystem.
- MANCOSA has fully-equipped libraries in most centres. All students have free access to the latest research and online journal articles via EBSCO Host, Emerald and CABINET.
- These resource persons also provide students with academic support and pastoral care throughout their academic careers; and
- The MANCOSA head office, based in central Durban, has a large complement of full-time academic, administrative and student support staff. It also has a well-resourced and modern infrastructure, training facilities, library and ICT infrastructure and equipment to complement its high-quality programmes and executive education programmes.
As a leading provider of management programmes through supported distance education, MANCOSA has considerable expertise in the design and development of high quality and relevant study materials. It has developed appropriate teaching and learning strategies, particularly suited for transferring knowledge and skills to mature students, many of whom are in full-time employment. Through its active research focus, MANCOSA remains at the cutting-edge of the latest management and leadership training trends.
The management and staff of MANCOSA are supportive of and actively involved in both public and private initiatives to improve the South African and continental higher education sector.