Background: In South Africa, many students are not able to register at higher education
institutions after receiving their high school diploma. The majority of those who do register
do not even complete their tertiary studies. The purpose of this research project is to
investigate and analyse higher education institutions’ enrolment and dropout within the
Gauteng province, South Africa.
Data and Methods: Large-scale secondary data from the General Household Survey (GHS,
2012), obtained from Statistics South Africa were used. The Statistical Package for Social
Science (SPSS) and the Statistical Analyst System (SAS) software package were utilised for
quantitative analysis. The numerous local and international pedagogical studies synthesised
in this research show that finance, unplanned pregnancies, orphanhood and transport to the
higher education institutions are some of the main concerns that affect the enrolment rate of
students. Further variables such as gender, race, ethnicities and the type of institution have
also negatively affected the enrolment rate of students, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa.