The UFS – as is the case with institutions globally – faces challenges of social integration, prejudice, and exclusion. In answer to these concerns, the UFS has been developing new strategies for unification. One such strategy is the Leadership for Change Programme, which was launched during 2010.

The Leadership for Change Programme gives first-year students international exposure to top universities throughout the world. It aims to stimulate the establishment of a new campus culture of student relations across boundaries.

The programme is one of the flagship interventions of the University of the Free State, underpinning an array of commitments to student development. It is a study-abroad/international programme of short duration available to students of all ethnicities, enabling them to personally experience models of integration across lines of culture, colour, and language. This leadership development programme focuses on first-years to establish layers of new thinking and engagement among students from diverse backgrounds.