South African universities face the risk of being downgraded, or even closed down should it not meet the requirement of new draft rules.

The changes the draft rules aims to assist in differentiating the types of educational institutions.

According to the changes by the Department of Higher of Education, a university needs to offer a wide range of studies, or be classified as a college.

In response, Universities South Africa’s Linda Meyer says people are still able to comment on the proposed policy.

She adds that institutions of higher learning, specifically universities, focus on teaching and learning, research and community engagement.