March 18, 2021
Universities sign on more tauira Maori
Māori and Pacific students now make up 35 percent of the Waikato University student body, the highest proportion of any New Zealand University.
Overall the university has increased student numbers by 9.7 percent, equivalent to 736 full-time students.
Full time equivalent Māori student numbers have increased by 300, and Pacific student numbers have increased by 90, compared to the same time last year.
Vice-Chancellor, Professor Neil Quigley, says for the past five years the university has supported participation through schemes such as subsidised inter-regional bus transport which ensured regional students, many of whom are first in their family to come to university, can complete degrees while commuting from their home towns.
The largest increases in total enrolments are in Education, Law, Engineering, Māori and Indigenous Studies, Health, Psychology, Science, Management and Marketing.
Lincoln University has recorded its highest total of Māori students since before 2010, with 161 students, an increase of 17 percent on last year.
However, that’s only half its overall growth rate for domestic students which was 35 percent, making a total of 894 domestic equivalent full-time students.
Acting Vice-Chancellor Professor Bruce McKenzie says New Zealand’s primary industries are confronting a number of distinct challenges in the COVID-impacted marketplace, and Lincoln has reacted swiftly.
He says it has a key strategic focus on boosting the achievements of Māori and Pasifika contributing to the Māori economy by developing trained and skilled thought leaders.
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