South Africa is experiencing a financial skills shortage with a severe shortage of
accountants and chartered accountants in particular. The aim of this study was to
measure accessibility of public higher education in South Africa, in general and
specifically relating to accountancy programmes with special emphasis on chartered
accountancy programmes in South Africa, by making use of selected accessibility
indicators. Although some of these indicators have been used to measure
accessibility of higher education in general both locally and internationally, they are
not often used to measure accessibility of a programme for a particular profession
such as accountancy or chartered accountancy. This study aimed to fill this gap by
measuring the selected accessibility indicators and providing subsequent rankings of
the four public universities selected for this study. The results can be used by
institutions that offer accountancy and chartered accountancy programmes as well
as the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants, as the profession’s
Education and Training Quality Assurance body, to evaluate the accessibility of
accountancy as well as chartered accountancy programmes.