International Student Enrolments in New Zealand 2003-2009

International tertiary enrolments by qualification level

The tertiary Single Data Return (SDR) system operated by the Ministry of Education allows for detailed extraction of data on the enrolments of international students in public and private tertiary education providers, according to their qualification level. Table 11 presents the trend in international enrolments since 2002 (note – this data is not directly comparable with the Export Education Levy data). 

It is notable that there have been marked changes in demand from international students for the qualifications taught by tertiary education providers. From 2003 to 2006 there was a 45% decline in international enrolments in certificate courses, followed by a 30% rise to 2009.  Similarly, from 2003 to 2007 there was a 36% fall in enrolments in diploma courses, follows by a 44% increase to 2009. 

There has been a consistent growth in international enrolments in postgraduate courses, rising 79% from 2003 to the end of 2009. There was a very marked increase in international doctoral (PhD) enrolments from 2005 to 2009 (rising from 692 to 2,405 students).  This increase can largely be attributed to the ‘domestic fees status for new international PhD students’ policy introduced from 2006.

                                                                                                                                            

Table 11: International enrolments by qualification level

Notes: Postgraduate totals include Honours degrees & Postgraduate Diplomas; Masters; & Doctorates. * Students who were enrolled at more than one qualification level have been counted in each level. Consequently, the sum of students is less than the sum of course enrolments.
	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	% of total, 2009
Certificate	15,140	12,377	9,018	8,335	8,768	10,060	10,846	22%
Diploma	14,467	15,604	13,726	10,674	9,323	10,477	13,408	27%
Undergraduate	18,719	23,184	23,910	21,685	19,391	17,339	17,413	40%
Postgraduate	3,971	4,835	4,810	4,969	5,442	6,155	7,090	14%
Total enrolments	52,297	56,000	51,464	45,663	42,924	44,031	48,757	100%
Total students*	47,056	50,395	47,278	42,705	39,842	39,778	43,457

 

Chart 5: Proportion of international enrolments by qualification level

Table 12 shows there were substantial variations in the profile of qualifications enrolments according to the regional origins of international students. In 2009 the great majority of international tertiary students came from Asia (71%), followed by Europe (9%) and Northern America (7%). The largest proportion of Asia enrolments were in undergraduate courses (36%), as were most North American enrolments (58%). European enrolments had the highest proportion of participation in postgraduate courses (32%).

A comparison with New Zealand tertiary enrolments during 2009 shows that, overall, international enrolments were more focused on undergraduate studies (36% vs 29%), and had a substantially higher proportion of postgraduate enrolments (15% vs 8%). During 2009 the 43,457 international tertiary students made up just over 9% of all tertiary students enrolled with New Zealand education providers.

                                                                                                                                                                

Table 12: Tertiary enrolments by region & level, 2009

	Africa	Asia	Central & South America	Europe	Middle East	Northern America	Pacific	New Zealand
Certificate	295	7,617	343	721	1,113	212	545	245,352
Diploma	106	10,520	165	903	146	586	982	72,285
Undergraduate	154	12,715	97	1,472	520	1,853	602	144,937
Postgraduate	176	4,270	233	1,302	308	545	256	40,073
Total  enrolments	731	35,122	838	4,398	2,087	3,196	2,385	502,647
Total students	661	30,944	789	4,071	1,786	3,079	2,127	425,650
% of students	2%	71%	2%	9%	4%	7%	5%

Chart 6: Proportion of course enrolments by region of origin, 2009