The University of South Africa (UNISA) is a distance education university, with headquarters in Pretoria, South Africa. With approximately 300 000 enrolled students, it qualifies as one of the world's mega universities. Founded in 1873 as the University of the Cape of Good Hope, the University of South Africa (or UNISA as it is commonly known, spoken as you-nee-suh) spent most of its early history as an examining agency for Oxford and Cambridge universities and as an incubator from which most other universities in South Africa are descended. In 1946 it was given a new role as a distance education university and today it offers certificate, diploma and degree courses up to doctoral level. Largely because it was a distance education university, it remained interracial during the years of apartheid in South Africa. In January 2004 UNISA merged with Technikon SA and incorporated the distance education component of Vista University (VUDEC). The combined institution retained the name University of South Africa (UNISA), unlike other merged institutions, which underwent name changes. It is now organised by college and by school; see below.