This article postulates a model to measure the academic performance of a private higher education institution in South Africa. The broad theoretical framework identified eighteen antecedents and its respective measuring criteria to measure academic performance. Statistical scrutiny ensured that these criteria are actual measures of the respective academic performance antecedents which culminated in a theoretical model to measure the academic performance of private higher education in South Africa. The eighteen academic performance antecedents are Economic factors, Selectivity, expenditure and retention, Parent income level, attitudes and expectations, Motivation, Workload, External forces, Self-efficacy, Help seeking, Attendance, Affective factors, Self-concept, Self-esteem, Stress, Active learning, Extracurricular activities, Adjustment, Class size, and General measures of academic performance. The results showed that all the antecedents are reliable indicators of academic performance (α≥0.79) and that the academic performance can be successfully measured by the antecedents. In addition, the model seeks to determine if any significant correlations exist between the academic performance antecedents. The measurement of academic performance is of value to business school directors, managers and investors in private higher education. Researchers and scholars who intend to explore this avenue of academic performance models further could also benefit from this article.