The vision of the UJ is to be “an international University of choice, anchored in Africa, dynamically shaping the future”. The mission can be described as follows: “inspiring its community to transform and serve humanity through innovation and the collaborative pursuit of knowledge”. These are underpinned by four values, namely: imagination, conversation, regeneration and ethical foundation. The six strategic objectives provide a focused means for realising the Vision, Mission and Values of the University as set out above. They further represent a re-working of the original UJ Strategic Thrusts 2020 in the context of a wider positioning of the University as “The Pan-African” Centre for Critical Intellectual Inquiry, with the primary goal of achieving global excellence and stature.

The University has 7 faculties and a college viz., Education, Law, Humanities, Art, Design and Architecture, Health Sciences, Science, Engineering and the Built Environment as well as the College of Business and Economics, housing the newly established Johannesburg Business School. The University has four campuses, namely the Auckland Park Bunting Road Campus; the Auckland Park Kingsway Campus; the Doornfontein Campus; and the Soweto Campus.