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Profile & Trends 2015: Tertiary Education Outcomes and Qualification Completions [Part 2 of 6] Publications

Publication Details

This is edition 18 in an annual series on the tertiary education sector. Tertiary Education Outcomes and Qualification Completions is the second of six reports to be published in the Profile and Trends 2015 series.

The key findings of Tertiary Education Outcomes and Qualification Completions for 2015 were:

  • 21 percent of adults held a bachelors or higher qualification, 18 percent held a level 4 to 7 diploma or certificate and 13 percent of adults held either a level 1 to 3 tertiary certificate, or other post-school qualification, as their highest qualification.
  • 161,000 tertiary education qualifications were completed, 22,500 by international students.
  • The median hourly earnings of people with a bachelors or higher qualification were 65 percent higher than for people without a qualification.

Author(s): Tertiary Sector Performance Analysis, Ministry of Education.

Date Published: August 2016

Executive Summary

Tertiary Education Outcomes and Qualification Completions is the second of six reports in the Profile & Trends 2015 series.  The reports are being published throughout the year as information comes available.

Tertiary Education Outcomes and Qualification Completions contains data for the year ended December 2015, unless otherwise stated.  The population statistics in this report are from Statistics New Zealand's Household Labour Force Survey and the information on qualification completions is derived from returns provided by government-funded tertiary education organisations to the Ministry of Education and the Tertiary Education Commission.  A list of figures is included at the end of the report.

The report begins with an overview of tertiary education outcomes and qualification completions.  Chapter 2 profiles New Zealanders aged 15 years and over by highest qualification.  The employment advantages and higher earnings of the tertiary qualified are described in chapter 3.  This chapter also includes information on young people not in employment, education or training.  The tertiary education outcomes for young graduates are discussed in chapter 4.

Chapter 5 focuses on the students who completed a tertiary education qualification in 2014.  The latest course completion rates are covered in chapter 6.

This year's edition of Profile & Trends represents the 18th annual survey of the tertiary education system published by the Ministry of Education.

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  • 2015 Part 2 of 6 (PDF, 5.8 MB)

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