Victoria University along Kampala-Jinja road

By Johannah Nantongo

Victoria University has emerged as Uganda’s second-highest-ranked university in a revised institutional assessment by the National Council for Higher Education (NCHE), scoring 87.4 points out of the overall ranking.

The private university placed behind Makerere University, which led with 88.9 points, while Kampala International University took third position with 85.8 points.

The ranking comes ahead of Victoria University’s 10th graduation ceremony, scheduled for October 20, 2026, as the institution marks a decade of training students for professional and academic careers.

Data in the NCHE assessment shows that Victoria University has an enrolment of 14,113 students undertaking 66 academic programmes, translating into an average of 128.7 students per programme. The institution was classified in the regulator’s “Leading” performance category.

The evaluation measures universities against seven indicators, including student numbers, the sustainability of academic programmes, graduate training and gender representation. It also examines participation in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM), women’s involvement in STEM disciplines and the relevance of university curricula.

Founded in 2013, Victoria University is a private higher education institution under the Ruparelia Group. It operates with a charter from the National Council for Higher Education, the body responsible for regulating higher education institutions in Uganda.