Profile & Trends 2007: New Zealand's Tertiary Education Sector

2007 enrolments

In 2007, there were 579,000 students enrolled in all types of formal tertiary qualifications at providers. Forty thousand of these were international students and 76,700 were students in short courses of less than one week. In addition, 186,000 learners were engaged in industry-based training, including 10,800 modern apprentices. There were also 8,240 school students in Gateway programmes, which are designed to give school students workplace experience. Non-formal education such as adult and community education attracted an estimated 249,000 enrolments. It is estimated that approximately 13 percent of the population aged 15 years or over participated in some form of tertiary learning with a tertiary education provider during 2007 and a further 6 percent were undertaking formal learning in the workplace.

Following many years of strong growth, the number of students formally enrolled at tertiary education institutions fell by 1.4 percent from 2006 to 2007. From 2005 to 2006, the number of formal students also fell by 2.5 percent. The overall fall in enrolments in 2007 was driven by fewer domestic students in level 1 to 3 certificates and fewer international students at bachelors level and in level 5 to 7 diplomas. The number of domestic students at level 4 and above actually increased from 2006 to 2007.

Also, when converting the number of people in formal study to equivalent full-time students, study by domestic students at providers increased in 2007 – at every qualification level, except in lower-level certificates, which decreased, and at qualification level 4, which remained stable. The amount of study at bachelors-level increased in 2007 due to the ‘baby blip’ generation continuing to move from school into tertiary education. Study for bachelors degrees with honours, postgraduate certificates and postgraduate diplomas increased dramatically for domestic as well as international students. Doctoral study rose strongly from 2006 to 2007 with international enrolments being the main driver of this increase. Doctoral studies by international students have been funded on the same basis as for domestic students since 2006.

International enrolments fell in 2007, for the third consecutive year. Study by international students decreased at bachelors level, in level 5 to 7 diplomas and in lower-level certificates. Partially offsetting this decline were increases in the study of level 4 certificates, bachelors degrees with honours, postgraduate certificates and postgraduate diplomas and doctoral study. In terms of equivalent full-time students, international formal provider-based students represented 11 percent of all enrolments in 2007 compared to 12 percent in 2006.

In 2007, 257,000 domestic students, or 58 percent of all domestic students, enrolled in government-funded tertiary education organisations participated in certificate-level study. This compared to 59 percent of domestic enrolments at certificate level in 2006 and 61 percent in 2005. The number enrolled in diplomas was 63,100, or 14 percent of domestic enrolments, while 128,000, or 29 percent, undertook bachelors-level study, and 33,500, or 7.5 percent, were enrolled for postgraduate study. However, when converted to equivalent full-time student units, bachelors-level study had the highest proportion at 41 percent.

On the other hand, learners in workplace-based study increased by 5.5 percent from 2006 to 2007 and by 8.1 percent from 2005 to 2006. This continued growth in industry training led to the proportion of the population aged 15 years and over in industry training increasing in recent years.

In 2006, a total of 110,000 domestic students completed 114,000 formally recognised qualifications.¹ This represented a 7.6 percent decrease on the previous year in the number of completed qualifications. On the other hand, the completion rates at bachelor level or higher improved in 2006. An estimated 44 percent of domestic students who had started a qualification in 2002 had completed it by the end of 2006. The first-year attrition rate of students in government-funded tertiary education organisations who started a qualification in 2004 was 34 percent, up from 29 percent in the previous year. The relatively low unemployment rate was a contributing factor to the lower retention rate of students.

An article covering some of the findings from the 2007 survey of international students is included in chapter 5. A second article in that chapter provides a summary of the main findings of the Adult Literacy and Life Skills Survey conducted between May 2006 and March 2007. A third article discusses two analyses of the transitions made by students from school to tertiary study. The two studies discussed in this article used the 2004 NCEA results and answered questions such as ‘how does a student’s performance at school affect their decision to enter tertiary study?’ and ‘how does achievement at school affect students’ performance in tertiary study in their first year?’

Tertiary education in New Zealand

New Zealand’s tertiary education sector makes a wide range of learning available, from foundation skills to doctoral studies. Through its research activities, the sector is a major contributor to the nation’s innovation.

A key feature of the New Zealand system is the integration of funding and provision across vocational education and training, higher education, workplace training, adult and community education, and tertiary education that takes place within the senior secondary school.

A large proportion of tertiary education in 2007 was funded through the Student Component Fund, covering all levels of tertiary education, from second-chance education to doctoral studies. Industry training provides workforce skills to a significant number of people. This training, leading to nationally recognised qualifications, was designed by, and delivered in conjunction with industry. There were also targeted training funds that provided fully subsidised education and training to disadvantaged groups.

The government funded such learning as foundation education, adult literacy and English for speakers of other languages. It also provided funding to adult and community education organisations to support their work and development.

The results of learning through tertiary education can be viewed in terms of improving competencies and attainment, or progress towards attainment, of recognised qualifications. A competency includes the skills, knowledge, attitudes and values needed to perform important tasks. The government has established the Learning for Living programme to build adults’ fluency, independence and range of skills in language, literacy and numeracy so that they can use these competencies to participate effectively in all aspects of their lives. It also introduced the New Zealand Skills Strategy which takes a unified approach to ensure people and organisations are able to develop and use the skills needed in the workplaces of the future.

The New Zealand Register of Quality Assured Qualifications incorporates all tertiary qualifications. It provides a standard structure for naming and describing qualifications across levels and types of provision. It includes 10 levels of qualification from entry-level certificates to doctorates.

Footnote

1. Due to a change in the Ministry of Education’s data collection the completion rates to 2007 are not yet available.