🇿🇼 20 universities · 13 state, 7 private · 1,592 programmes
Universities in Zimbabwe — every programme the regulator lists as accredited.
All 20 universities registered with the Zimbabwe Council for Higher Education (ZIMCHE), with the 1,592 programmes it lists as accredited, faculty by faculty — from its September 2026 list.
Registered universities
20
13 state, 7 private
Accredited programmes
1,592
874 bachelor's, 575 master's
Most programmes
University of Zimbabwe
411 programmes · 9 faculties
Oldest
University of Zimbabwe
established 1953, per the booklet
What's here, and what isn't
ZIMCHE published this list of registered universities and accredited programmes in September 2026; its introduction still describes the universities “as of June 2024”. The programmes are those ZIMCHE lists as accredited — they are not a statement of what each university is admitting students to this year.
The booklet covers the universities registered with ZIMCHE. Polytechnics, teachers' colleges and other colleges are not in it.
ZIMCHE's list gives no fees, entry requirements or student numbers — each university sets its own fees and entry requirements, so check its website.
Nor does it give entry cut-offs or graduate outcomes, and each university selects its own students — so this is a directory of universities and their programmes, not a matcher.
The 20 registered universities
In all ten of Zimbabwe's provinces. Programme counts are the booklet's accredited programmes, repeats within a faculty counted once; founding years are as the booklet gives them.
| University | Location | Established | Programmes | Bachelor's | Master's |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Africa UniversityAU · Private university | Mutare, Manicaland | 1992 | 84 | 44 | 29 |
| Arrupe Jesuit UniversityAJU · Private university | Harare | 1994 | 9 | 6 | 1 |
| Bindura University of Science EducationBUSE · State university | Bindura, Mashonaland Central | 2000 | 64 | 35 | 24 |
| Catholic University of ZimbabweCUZ · Private university | Harare | 1999 | 30 | 16 | 8 |
| Chinhoyi University of TechnologyCUT · State university | Chinhoyi, Mashonaland West | 2002 | 66 | 38 | 18 |
| Great Zimbabwe UniversityGZU · State university | Masvingo | 1995 | 173 | 118 | 39 |
| Gwanda State UniversityGSU · State university | Matabeleland South | 2016 | 10 | 10 | 0 |
| Harare Institute of TechnologyHIT · State university | Harare | 2005 | 31 | 17 | 10 |
| Lupane State UniversityLSU · State university | Lupane, Matabeleland North | 2005 | 73 | 50 | 13 |
| Manicaland State University of Applied SciencesMSUAS · State university | Mutare, Manicaland | 2016 | 13 | 12 | 1 |
| Marondera University of Agricultural Sciences and TechnologyMUAST · State university | Marondera, Mashonaland East | 2017 | 17 | 16 | 1 |
| Midlands State UniversityMSU · State university | Gweru, Midlands | 1999 | 236 | 144 | 83 |
| National University of Science and TechnologyNUST · State university | Bulawayo | 1990 | 155 | 61 | 72 |
| Reformed Church UniversityRCU · Private university | Masvingo | 2012 | 14 | 13 | 1 |
| Solusi UniversitySU · Private university (Seventh-day Adventist Church) | Solusi, Bulawayo, Matabeleland South | 1994 | 53 | 44 | 6 |
| University of ZimbabweUZ · State university | Harare | 1953 | 411 | 160 | 231 |
| Women’s University in AfricaWUA · Private university | Harare | 2002 | 34 | 19 | 10 |
| Zimbabwe Ezekiel Guti UniversityZEGU · Private university (Zimbabwe Assemblies of God Africa, Forward in Faith Church) | Bindura, Mashonaland Central | 2012 | 35 | 21 | 5 |
| Zimbabwe National Defence UniversityZNDU · State university | Mashonaland Central | 2017 | 11 | 7 | 4 |
| Zimbabwe Open UniversityZOU · State university | Harare | 1999 | 73 | 43 | 19 |
The booklet lists 1,637 programme lines; 45 of them repeat a programme already listed under the same faculty and are counted once, so 1,592 programme listings are shown. The same title under two faculties of one university (most faculties have their own Master of Philosophy and Doctor of Philosophy) is counted under each.
The 1,592 programmes by level
Levels are our grouping, read from the first words of each programme's name (Bachelor…, Master…, Doctor…, Diploma…). The booklet's own wording is kept, including its spelling of programme names.
- Bachelor's degrees874
- Postgraduate diplomas and certificates58
- Master's degrees575
- Doctorates46
- Diplomas30
- Certificates6
- Other programmes3
Provisional registrations
ZIMCHE's website also lists two non-operating universities granted provisional registration: University of Matopo (January 2025 to January 2026) and Kemet University (June 2024 to June 2025) — periods that, as ZIMCHE gives them, ended before its September 2026 list was published. Neither is in that list, and neither is listed here.
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Source: Zimbabwe Council for Higher Education (ZIMCHE), “Accredited Universities and their Programmes” (September 2026), downloaded 2026-10-20; provisional registrations from ZIMCHE's “Higher Education Institutions” page, read 2026-10-20.
The facts were re-keyed and arranged by CollegeMatcher: names and mandates re-cased, repeated programme lines counted once, levels grouped, two locations corrected from the booklet's own details, and university websites checked. ZIMCHE reserves all rights in its publications, so only the facts are used here, not its text or layout; contact details are not reproduced.