April tertiary enrolment numbers released

Enrolment numbers in New Zealand’s tertiary education sector for the first four months of this year have dropped in line with forecasts.

Under the Single Data Return (SDR) reporting system comparing April 2012 to April 2013, the figures show:

• Domestic enrolments were down by 1.8 per cent from 298,912 to 293,386
• Postgraduate enrolments remained steady with an overall increase of 1 per cent
• Honours and post-graduate certificates and diplomas increased by 2 per cent
• Masters degree enrolments were up by 13 places or 0.1 per cent
• Doctorate enrolments were down by 16 places or 0.4 per cent.

“The latest enrolment numbers for the tertiary sector are consistent with expectations,” Tertiary Education, Skills and Employment Minister Steven Joyce says.

“The slight drop in the overall number is due to the total number of people aged 18-22 years peaking in 2012; and people moving back from full-time study into work-based study options, like apprenticeships, as the economy picks up.

“The results also show that the post-graduate student allowance changes the Government made last year to restrict student allowances to students from low-income families and to the early years of study, have had little effect on the overall number of post-graduate enrolments at this stage.”

Using the savings in student support, the Government in Budget 2013 is investing $130 million to strengthen high-level tertiary education. That includes $32.4 million to assist in meeting the Better Public Services target of increasing the proportion of 25- to 34-year-olds with a qualification at level 4 or higher to 55 per cent by 2017.

For more information, go to: http://www.educationcounts.govt.nz/statistics/tertiary_education/summary_tables