Profile & Trends 2008: New Zealand's Tertiary Education Sector

Enrolments in 2008

There were 502,000 students enrolled in all types of formal tertiary qualifications at providers in 2008. Of these, 39,800 were international students, 27,100 were in targeted training programmes and 38,800 were students in courses of less than one week’s duration² In addition, 195,000 learners were engaged in workplace-based training, including 12,100 modern apprentices.

There were also 9,690 school students in Gateway programmes, which are designed to help secondary school students experience tertiary education and achieve outcomes such as gaining employment or achieving credits on the National Qualifications Framework. Non-formal education, such as adult and community education, attracted an estimated 223,000 enrolments.

During 2008, 12 percent of the population aged 15 years and over participated in some form of formal learning with a tertiary education provider and a further 5.8 percent were undertaking formal learning in the workplace.

The number of students formally enrolled at tertiary education institutions in courses of more than one week’s duration fell in 2008. Since 2005, fewer domestic enrolments in level 1 to 4 certificate courses has been the main factor decreasing formal enrolments. Also, in recent years, there have been significantly fewer international enrolments at bachelors level and in level 5 to 7 diplomas. Before 2005, the number of students had grown strongly for many years.

The introduction in 2003 of funding caps on provider-based enrolments, and the subsequent reviews of non-degree qualifications, occurred at a time when the unemployment rate was falling steadily, and this led to more young people entering the workforce rather than entering tertiary education study. The declines in domestic provider-based enrolments also need to be seen against the significant rises in workplace-based learning (Figure 1.1). In 2008, workplace-based study continued to increase. This strong growth has led to an increase in the proportion of the population aged 15 years and over in industry training in recent years.

Figure 1.1: Trends in formal students by level of study and setting

Figure 1.2: Distribution of equivalent full-time students by level of study

Partially offsetting the decreases in domestic certificate enrolments were increases in 2007 and 2008 in the number of students in bachelors degrees as the ‘birth blip’ (those born between 1989 and 1993) continued to move from school into tertiary education. There were also more 20 to 24 year-olds enrolled in bachelors degrees in 2008. In fact, when converting the number of people in formal study to equivalent full-time students, study by domestic students at providers fell by less than 1 percent in 2008. This was due to more students studying higher-level and longer qualifications in 2008 – domestic equivalent full-time student units increased by over 2 percent at each   of bachelors level, honours degrees, postgraduate certificates and postgraduate diplomas (level 8 qualifications), and doctorate level   (Figure 1.2).  

The decrease in international equivalent full-time student units in 2008 was bigger than that for domestic students, due to the significant decrease in international enrolments in bachelors degrees and a small decrease in honours degrees and postgraduate certificates and diplomas. At every other qualification level, there were considerable increases in international equivalent full-time student units in 2008. The underlying trend in international enrolments appears to be moving upwards as the number of international first-year students increased by 4.4 percent in 2007 and 8.6 percent in 2008. In terms of equivalent full-time students, international formal provider-based students represented 11 percent of all enrolments in 2008 and in 2007.  

In 2008, 230,000 domestic students, or 55 percent of all domestic students enrolled in government-funded tertiary education organisations, participated in certificate-level study. This compared to 58 percent of domestic enrolments at certificate level in 2007 and 61 percent in 2005. The number enrolled in diplomas was 63,500, or 15 percent of domestic enrolments, while 128,000, or 30 percent, undertook bachelors-level study, and 35,400, or 8.4 percent, were enrolled in postgraduate study. However, when converted to equivalent full-time student units, bachelors-level study had the highest proportion at 41 percent.

In 2008, a total of 112,000 students completed 122,000 formally recognised qualifications at tertiary education providers. Of these, 99,900 were domestic students who completed 110,000 qualifications up 7.0 percent on the previous year. Nearly 70 percent of full-time domestic students who started their bachelors degree in 2003 had completed it by 2008. Fifty-six percent of full-time domestic students enrolled in a certificate had completed this after one year and 53 percent of those who started a diploma had completed this after two years. Doctoral students, in general, took a little longer to complete. Around 60 percent of doctoral students had completed their doctorate after eight years.

Qualification completion rates for part-time students are lower than those for full-time students. Part-time students not only take longer to complete a qualification, they are more likely to cease study, and they are more likely to enrol with course-based, rather than qualificationbased intentions, for example, older already qualified students return to study for vocational upskilling. Nearly 50 percent of part-time bachelors students had gained a degree after 8 years, while close to 40 percent of part-time certificate and diploma students had completed a qualification after eight years.  

An article covering some of the findings from a Ministry of Education report containing new information on the fields of study of bachelors   graduates is included in chapter 5.

Footnote

2. Enrolments in courses of less than one week’s duration decreased by 64 percent from 2007 to 2008 due to a fall in the provision of occupational health and safety courses.