Tertiary education in New Zealand consists of universities, polytechnics, and private training institutions. Universities and polytechnics are funded by the government and managed independently. In addition, New Zealand has also established a number of private education institutions in recent years to provide students with a wealth of courses. New Zealand’s university education is close to the British education system. Most bachelor degrees can be obtained within three years.
All universities grant bachelor’s, master’s and doctorate degrees. There are also various undergraduate and postgraduate diploma courses, and honors courses usually take another year. The degree of New Zealand universities is approved by the Academic Committee under the New Zealand Vice Chancellors’ Committee, while the diplomas awarded by polytechnics and a few private higher education schools are approved and supervised by the New Zealand Qualification Authority (NZQA).
Universities
There are a total of eight universities in the country that offer globally recognized degree programs, all of which are public. There are currently no private universities in New Zealand. Five of them have a history of more than one hundred years, namely the University of Auckland, the Victoria University of Wellington, the University of Canterbury, the University of Waikato and the University of Otago. Universities have schools of liberal arts, sciences, and business schools, law schools. The eight universities in New Zealand do not have a ranking issue. Each university has its own characteristics, each with its own specialties and professional fields. They provide bachelor’s degree, university graduation and postgraduate diploma, master’s degree, and doctoral degree.
Polytechnics
Polytechnics provide a series of vocational certificates, diplomas, degree courses and so on in different industries. Every year, the graduates of the Polytechnic Institute are welcomed and hired by employers. The purpose of the New Zealand Institute of Technology is to train talents for positions and technical positions. New Zealand Institute of Technology offers a two-year college course, students can acquire many practical skills such as car repair, hotel management, western cooking, early childhood education and so on. In addition, New Zealand Polytechnics also provide undergraduate, post-bachelor, postgraduate and master’s courses, so New Zealand polytechnic is very similar to a university. The main difference is that the courses offered by the polytechnic pay more attention to applicability and skills, and are closer to work and employment.
Private institutions
There are many private institutions in New Zealand, and the courses offered by these private institutions are set up for the shortage of immigration courses in New Zealand. The students of private institutions are not only local students, but also international students. The biggest advantage of private institutions is that compared with public universities and polytechnics, tuition fees are lower, classes are smaller, entry barriers are lower, and in recent years, some excellentinstitutions have opened some internationally accredited courses and degrees.
That’s all for the tertiary education in New Zealand. It provides different study options for students to choose, so that every student has the opportunity to discover their own strengths. Meanwhile, it cultivates talents for different industries. This is one of the best education systems in the world and is widely recognized by the world.
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