Summary

Highlights

• In 2005, there were 504,000 students enrolled in formal study programmes¹ at tertiary education providers. Forty-seven thousand of these were international students.
• While more people studied in 2005, when converting this number to equivalent full-time students, these actually fell by 1.2 percent as a result of a fall in international enrolments.
• Non-formal tertiary education attracted 189,000 learners in 2005. These enrolments fell by 34 percent from 2004, due to the progressive shift of adult and community education out of the student component and into a new pool that is focussed around the government's priorities for adult and communication education.
• Enrolments by male students increased by 6.1 percent in 2005. This was largely due to a sharp increase of men enrolling in short certificate-level qualifications in agriculture.

Growth in enrolments slows

Formal enrolments¹ rose in 2005 by 3.6 percent on the previous year to a total of 504,000. From 1990 to 2004, the increase in enrolments at public tertiary education institutions averaged 8.5 percent per year. A major factor contributing to the strong growth in enrolments in recent years was the increase in international students.¹ This count trebled from 16,600 in 2000 to 50,500 in 2004.

But in 2005, the number of international students fell by 3,060. By contrast, domestic enrolments increased by 20,700.

International enrolments totalled 47,400 in 2005 (down by 6.1 percent) and domestic enrolments totalled 457,000 (up by 4.7 percent.)

Figure 1:  Annual increase in the number of students¹ enrolled in formal tertiary education programmes.

Decrease in equivalent full-time student counts

While the number of students rose in 2005, converting the enrolments to equivalent full-time student units, shows that these declined by 1.2 percent on the previous year to 284,000 equivalent full-time students - as international enrolments reduced.

While the fall in equivalent full-time students in 2005 was largely the result of the international downturn, there were some interesting shifts that occurred among domestic students also. Almost half the decline was attributable to a 2.8 percent fall in equivalent full-time students in level 1-3 certificates - even though more people enrolled in these qualifications. There has been a shift of enrolments into short qualifications - lowering the average student load - run by polytechnics. Equivalent full-time students also decreased from 2004 to 2005 at masters level by 6.0 percent and for diplomas by 2.1 percent. Doctorates rose by 18 percent and level 4 certificates by 2.9 percent.

Certificate enrolments fall at Wānanga and Universities

From 2004 to 2005, wānanga formal enrolments fell by 7,570 (11 percent). This decrease was mainly in level 1-4 certificates. Certificate enrolments at wānanga fell at levels 1-3 by 6,240 and at level 4 by 2,820.

Formal enrolments at universities also fell in 2005 by 2,900 (1.7 percent) on the previous year. Certificate enrolments at universities fell by 2,130, diplomas by 1,470 and masters degrees by 538.

Significant increases in enrolments in 2005 were recorded at institutes of technology and polytechnics, other tertiary education providers² and private training establishments.

Equivalent full-time student (EFTS)

The formal enrolments at these providers increased by 21,700 (11 percent), 1,210 (22 percent) and 3,660 (5.0 percent), respectively. Converting these enrolments to equivalent full-time students illustrates that many of these courses were of short duration.

In 2005, equivalent full-time students rose at institutes of technology and polytechnics and at other tertiary education providers² (1,270 and 745, respectively) while at private training establishments they fell by 230 equivalent full-time students.

The mix of student types at institutes of technology and polytechnics changed considerably from 2004 to 2005. Students in formal programmes of less than, or equal to, one week's duration increased by 62,000 to 155,000 enrolments in 2005. Students in formal programmes of more than one week's duration also increased significantly. In 2005, there were 214,000 of these enrolments¹, up by 21,700 on 2004. In contrast, non-formal studies at institutes of technology and polytechnics, such as adult and community education, fell by 89,300 enrolments to 147,000 (a decrease of 38 percent).

The decline in non-formal learning was significant at all public tertiary education institutions and at private training establishments. The fall in non-formal enrolments for all provider types was 96,800 (34 percent) in 2005. When converted to equivalent full-time students, non-formal enrolments fell by 43 percent to 11,200 equivalent full-time students.

Figure 2: Proportion of male students enrolled in formal tertiary education programmes

Rise in male students

The proportion of male students 1 enrolled in formal enrolments increased from 44 percent in 2004 to 45 percent in 2005.

Male enrolments totalled 226,000 in 2005, up by 13,100, or 6.1 percent, on the previous year. Female enrolments in 2005 totalled 278,000, up by 4,580, or 1.7 percent, on 2004.

Almost three quarters of the increase in formal enrolments at institutes of technology and polytechnics was from male students¹. This was partly due to a significant number of men enrolling in short agricultural qualifications. Enrolments by males also outnumbered those made by females at other tertiary education providers. 2 Additionally, at institutions where enrolments decreased in 2005, the fall in male enrolments was smaller. For example, wānanga enrolments were down for women by 4,210 and for men by 3,360. University enrolments were also down in 2005 by 1,640 for women and by 1,260 for men (although in percentage terms this decline was the same for men and women.) On the other hand, private training establishments enrolled more women in 2005 (up by 2,470 enrolments) while the increase in male enrolments was 1,200.

Fall in international students

In 2005, just over 9 percent of students undertaking tertiary education studies in New Zealand were from overseas. But international students¹ decreased by 6.1 percent from 2004 to 2005 to 47,400.

The fall in students from Asia was the biggest contributor to the overall drop in international students. Public tertiary education institutions enrolled 2,010 fewer Asian students in 2005 than in 2004. Private training establishments enrolled 1,010 fewer students from Asia in 2005. Public providers also enrolled fewer international students from Pacific countries in 2005 (down 3.8 percent). By contrast, more international students originating from Europe (up 4.9 percent) were enrolled with public providers in 2005.

Almost half of the international students undertook study in the field of 'management and commerce' in 2005. There were 7,230 international students who studied 'mixed field programmes' and a similar number studied 'society and culture.' In 2005, there were also 6,410 international students following non-formal educational programmes in New Zealand.

Rapid rise in agricultural and environmental studies

Students enrolled in 'agricultural, environmental and related' studies increased by 50 percent from 2004 to 2005. There were 31,700 students in this field in 2005. In large part, the rise was attributable to short courses offered at Telford Rural Polytechnic on 'pest management: agrichemicals' and Northland Poly-technic on 'introductory growsafe'. These two courses attracted 7,170 students. Discounting for these courses, enrolments in this field went up by 16 percent.

From 2004 to 2005, student enrolments in 'engineering and related technologies' increased by 29 percent and those studying 'architecture and building' increased by 27 percent.

Falls in enrolments were recorded for studies of 'mixed field programmes',⁴ down by 20 percent, and information technology, down by 3.5 percent.

See the table below for a breakdown of all enrolments into fields of study.

Figure 3: Top six fields of study in 2005 for all students in formal tertiary education¹

Qualification levels

More students enrolled in 2005 for all levels of study with the exception of bachelors and masters degrees.

Level 4 certificates increased by 9.3 percent and level 1-3 certificates by 6.7 percent in 2005. In large part, the increase in certificates was attributable to the short agricultural courses offered at two polytechnics.

Level 5-7 diplomas rose by 1.7 percent on the previous year to 68,700 enrolments. There were 4.5 percent more females studying at diploma level while males studying diplomas decreased by 2.0 percent. At private training establishments students enrolled at diploma-level increased in 2005 by 16 percent to 17,900. At wānanga diploma-level enrolments increased in 2005 by 10 percent to 5,530. Enrolments at universities decreased in 2005 at diploma-level by 13 percent to 10,300.

An increase in enrolments was also recorded for doctorate degrees in 2005, up by 6.0 percent, and honours degrees and postgraduate certificates/ diplomas, up by 5.0 percent. Female students undertaking doctorate degrees in 2005 increased by 7.9 percent and for males the increase was 4.0 percent. Doctorate enrolments totalled 4,830 in 2005. Females studying at honours or postgraduate certificate / diploma level in 2005 rose by 7.0 percent to 11,400 enrolments and male enrolments increased by 1.7 percent to 6,470.

Bachelors enrolments totalled 153,000 in 2005 (down by 0.4 percent on 2004.) Enrolments for masters degrees fell by 3.0 percent from 2004 to 2005. There were 13,100 masters students in 2005. At wānanga bachelors increased in 2005 by 13 percent to 1,470 enrolments. At private training establishments enrolments at bachelors-level fell by 14 percent to 2,400. At universities, these enrolments remained stable at 122,000