Program Overview

---

Master of Commerce in Business Management

The primary purpose of the qualification is to provide Master of Commerce graduates with post-graduate level knowledge, specific skills, and applied competence in a number of fields associated with Business, Commerce, and Management. This prepares them to be lifelong learners, employable researchers, entrepreneurs, and contributors to society and the business community.

Purpose Statement

The qualification aims to provide South Africa (and other countries) with graduates in the field of business, commerce, and management to ensure that the leadership base of innovative and knowledge-base economic and scholarly activity is widened. A third purpose of the qualification is to provide South Africa (and other countries) with people who can understand the constructive role they need to play as intellectual economic leaders in their society and who are empowered to play that role.

Qualification Details

• Qualification stream: Finance, Risk Management, and Banking
• Qualification code: 98582 - FIN
• Qualification type: Full Research
• NQF level: 9
• Total credits: 180
• SAQA ID: 14369

Admission Requirements

An appropriate bachelor honours degree, or an appropriate postgraduate diploma, or a 480 credit bachelor's degree with a minimum of 96 credits at NQF level 8 in the field of Finance or Business Management with an average of at least 60%. A student who is admitted on the strength of a postgraduate diploma or a 480 credit bachelor's degree with a minimum of 96 credits at level 8 and who has not completed a module in research methodology may be required to complete such a module at NQF level 8 for NDP before he/she will be allowed to register for the dissertation.

All students with foreign qualifications, including those with qualifications from African countries, must have their qualifications evaluated at SAQA. In addition to the above requirements, applicants must submit a transcript or an academic record, as well as a document describing their intended research. Students will be accepted on the following criteria: suitability and viability of the intended research; adequate supervisory capacity and research expertise in the discipline or department.

Time Limits for This Degree

All master's and doctoral qualifications are structured over a defined period. A student registered for a 180-credit structured research master's degree must complete the study programme within three years. A student may make application to their supervisor for one additional year of study. The supervisor will consult with the Executive Dean of the College in which the student is registered.

Research Master's Degree

A research master's degree comprises a dissertation on an approved topic. You will be expected to have a research proposal approved in the first year of study. If you do not complete a research proposal in the first year of study, you will not be permitted to continue with the qualification.

Research Focus Areas

The College of Economic and Management Sciences has various research focus areas. A detailed research outline is required for the qualification for which you apply, including title, summary of topic, short literature review, expected contribution of the study, methodology to be followed, availability of the data, list of references, and reasons why you are interested in the topic. Your research outline must align with one of the departmental research focus areas and incorporate at least one of Unisa's Catalytic Niche Areas.

Student Fees and Funding Your Studies

An application fee of R150.00 is payable once you have received your Unisa student number. The application fee is non-refundable even if you decide not to study through Unisa or do not qualify for admission to Unisa. Student fees for the 2025 academic year are available, and the fee information for the 2026 academic year will be available at the time of registration.

Application for Admission

Applications for master's and doctoral qualifications are open until 19 December 2025. You must apply for a Unisa student number (if applicable), apply for admission, and upload all the supporting documents during the application period. If you already have a Unisa student number, you proceed to apply for admission and upload all the supporting documents.

Registration

Only students whose application for admission was approved and re-registering students (who made sufficient progress during the current academic year) will be allowed to register online within the approved registration period for the 2026 academic year. Coursework master's degree students must await the official approval of their research proposal module before attempting to re-register for the next academic year.

Curriculum

Registration and curriculum information are available. Students with outstanding fees or a Library block on their accounts will not be able to register online until these issues have been resolved. No printed registration forms will be accepted.