The Higher Education and Training Department says 55 percent of students who enter varsity do not graduate.
Minister Blade Nzimande raised concerns over corruption, funding and the high failure rate at the 2nd Annual National Higher Education Summit being held in Durban.
The number of students who do not finish their qualifications is one of the main topics on the agenda.
Nzimande says the issue hasn't received the attention it deserves.
He says language is one of the challenges faced by students.
"Language policies or practices which exclude black students are not acceptable. Sometimes when we raise these issues some say this is an attack on Afrikaans as a language or an attack on Afrikaner culture. I want to reject that with the contempt it deserves.No one is fighting against Afrikaans or Afrikaner culture but what we have to know is that Afrikaans and Afrikaner culture will have to exist in a multilingual and multicultural society" he said.
