Among the foremost research-driven universities in the country, Stellenbosch University (SU) is the only South African institution that has improved its position on the QS World University Rankings 2016/17, which was released in the second week of September.

Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) ranked SU in 395th place‚ up from the 401-410 band in 2015.

The University of Cape Town dropped to 191, and Wits to 359. The University of Pretoria and Rhodes University both fell from the 501-550 band to the 551-600 band, while the University of KwaZulu-Natal slipped into the 651-700 band from 551-600 a year ago. Newcomers to the QS rankings are the University of the Western Cape and North-West University – both in the 701+ band.

SU's view on rankings has always been that it does not compromise on academic excellence; that quality is put first and that it does not try and influence its position in an artificial manner.

SU was mentioned in coverage of the QS World University Rankings 2016/17. Some reports include SA's universities slide down global rankings (Business Day Live), Are South Africa's universities on the slippery slope? (Rand Daily Mail), Funding clamp hurts top SA universities' reputations internationally (Times Live) and South African universities struggle in global ranking as fee debate begins to bite (Business Tech).

A number of the media reports linked South African universities' drop on the rankings to the current turmoil in higher education in the country.