Victoria University Ranks Second in NCHE Institutional Ranking Ahead of 10th Graduation
Victoria University has been ranked second in the National Council for Higher Education (NCHE) Revised Institutional Ranking Report, placing it among Uganda’s top higher education institutions ahead of its 10th graduation ceremony scheduled for Tuesday.
The report awarded Victoria University an overall score of 87.4, ranking it behind Makerere University, which scored 88.9, and ahead of Kampala International University on 85.8.
The ranking marks a significant milestone for the private university as it prepares to celebrate a decade of graduations and its contribution to Uganda’s workforce and economy.
According to the report, Victoria University has an enrolment of 14,113 students across 66 academic programmes, averaging 128.7 students per programme.
The university falls within the NCHE’s “Leading” performance band, reflecting strong performance across key indicators used to assess higher education institutions.
The ranking is based on seven dimensions: enrolment vibrancy, programme viability, graduate training strength, gender balance, STEM participation, female participation in STEM, and curriculum relevance.
Enrolment vibrancy carries the highest weighting at 20%, while programme viability, graduate training strength, gender balance, and STEM participation each account for 15%. Female participation in STEM and curriculum relevance each contribute 10%.
Victoria University recorded a female enrolment share of 50.1%, while students enrolled in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) programmes accounted for 52.7% of total enrolment. Women represented 49.2% of the university’s STEM population.
The figures highlight the institution’s student composition and participation in science and technology-related disciplines.
The 10th graduation ceremony provides an opportunity to reflect on the university’s growth over the past decade, the number of graduates it has produced, and the contribution of its alumni across different sectors of the economy.
Details on the number of students graduating, the qualifications to be awarded, and the institution’s cumulative graduate output will offer further insight into its academic reach and impact.
However, the NCHE report contains conflicting enrolment figures for Victoria University. While the detailed ranking table records 14,113 students, a graphic on the report’s first page appears to indicate 8,494. The discrepancy will require clarification from NCHE before either figure can be treated as definitive.
As Uganda increasingly looks to universities to develop skills for a changing labour market, the graduation ceremony also draws attention to the link between higher education, employability, and the relevance of academic programmes to national development.
