Checked on an official page
University of Southern Indiana
States its equivalent-credentials requirement for South African applicants as the National Senior Certificate (NSC, from 2008 onwards) with 130 credits.
Study abroad › United States
Studying in the United States
Applications go through each university individually (or the Common App), and the visa process has its own fees and steps separate from admission itself.
F-1 student visa: fees and steps
SEVIS I-901 fee: US$350 for F-1 students, paid before your visa interview and separate from any university application fee.
Visa application (MRV) fee: reported at US$185, unchanged through 2026. A separate US$250 “Visa Integrity Fee” was created by US law for FY2026 and applies broadly to nonimmigrant visa categories including F-1, but as of the most recent reporting we found, it was not yet being collected. This could change at short notice, so confirm the current total on travel.state.gov before you budget.
Broad steps: your university issues the I-20 → you pay the SEVIS fee → you complete the DS-160 form → you interview at a US Embassy or Consulate.
Where to check this yourself
Universities with published South Africa entry rules
Checked on an official page
Oregon State University
Its country-requirements table (headed “Senior Certificate,” which may be older terminology but matches the NSC’s post-2008 achievement scale) sets: 55% average for its foundation pathway; 60% average (minimum 40% per subject) for direct/accelerated entry; 55% on transferable coursework for direct transfer.
Source: admissions.oregonstate.edu (opens the official page)
Checked on an official page
University of Iowa
Names the National Senior Certificate directly: minimum grade “B or 70%” for certificates issued since 2008, “C or 60%” for pre-2008 certificates. South African applicants are exempt from the usual English-proficiency requirement.
Checked on an official page
Andrews University
Names the NSC directly: at least five subjects passed, including English and Maths, with a minimum GPA of 2.50 on the NSC’s 7-point achievement scale.
Checked on an official page
University of Memphis
Its South Africa-specific page lists which SA certificates it accepts (NSC, Senior Certificate, Senior Certificate with Matriculation Exemption, and several provincial variants) but publishes no numeric minimum average – a separate general English-proficiency requirement still applies.
A handful of examples, not a full list. Some universities require your NSC to be independently evaluated by a service like World Education Services (WES) before they’ll accept it, separately from admission itself.