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 and country GDP, as agreed by members at the SARUA TGM.
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 | SADC Countries | |
| Band 3 | Botswana, Mauritius, Seychelles, South Africa | Upper Middle Income Countries |
| Band 2 | Angola, Namibia, Swaziland | Lower Middle Income Countries |
| Band 1 | Democratic Republic of Congo, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe | Lower Income Countries |
| Category 1 | Category 2 | Category 3 | Category 4 | Category 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 |