{"id":568911,"date":"2026-08-14T15:22:11","date_gmt":"2026-08-14T15:22:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/568911\/"},"modified":"2026-08-14T15:22:11","modified_gmt":"2026-08-14T15:22:11","slug":"new-zealand-targets-outcomes-as-international-education-demand-accelerates","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/568911\/","title":{"rendered":"New Zealand targets outcomes as international education demand accelerates"},"content":{"rendered":"

Speaking at The PIE Live Asia Pacific<\/a>, sector leaders from across universities and institutes of technology and national bodies described a recovery that is smaller in scale than neighbouring Australia\u2019s, but potentially more sustainable.<\/p>\n

Marie Clark, director of insights and performance at Education New Zealand (ENZ), reminded delegates that public backing for the sector remains strong.<\/p>\n

Referring to ENZ\u2019s social licence research<\/a>, she noted that last year\u00a077% of New Zealanders see the benefits of international students, and 77% would like to see the same number, or more, international students coming to New Zealand.<\/p>\n

Those numbers matter, she suggested, alongside growth indicators and student experience data, as New\u202fZealand works through \u201cwhat sort of growth as a country we should be aiming for\u201d<\/p>\n

New Zealand\u2019s reset is now visible in the numbers. Enrolments rebounded in 2025, with universities and schools together accounting for around 65% of total volume.<\/p>\n

Where Australia experienced a rapid post\u2011border reopening surge, New\u202fZealand\u2019s border stayed closed longer and reopened later, leading to a slower rebuild.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt Victoria University, we only just recovered our international student numbers this semester \u2013 we\u2019re talking about recovery literally last week,\u201d said Amy Rutherford, director international at\u00a0Victoria University of Wellington. <\/p>\n

\u201cThat slower recovery, though, I think, has meant that New Zealand doesn\u2019t have the same headwinds that perhaps Australia is facing at the moment in terms of the massive, huge recovery that you had much earlier, which I think perhaps impacted social licence within Australia in a way that we haven\u2019t seen in New\u202fZealand.\u201d<\/p>\n

At the same time, structural pressures at home are real, she explained, noting that\u00a0\u201cgovernment has been quite clear that there will be no more funding for universities\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo universities have to seek sources of funding, and international education is a fundamental part of that,\u201d she continued.<\/p>\n

Operationally, institutions are dealing with a spike in interest. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe do have a lot of demand,\u201d she said. \u201cAt the moment we are waterboarded with applications.\u201d<\/p>\n

At her institution, application volumes are now \u201cabout five times what they were two years ago\u201d, but conversion has fallen. Immigration New\u202fZealand used to see roughly half of offer\u2011holders progress to a visa application, now it is closer to 15-20%.<\/p>\n

Dani Mao, employability manager at\u00a0Otago Polytechnic Auckland International Campus, brought the on\u2011the\u2011ground perspective from working daily with international students.<\/p>\n

Prospective students \u2013 and even those already admitted \u2013 are asking very specific, very relevant questions, she explained.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re asking us to list the industry partners we work with, the companies we send interns to, and the outcome of our graduates\u2026 how long on average [until] international students are employed, and they even ask about the [salary] range.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSome of this information we don\u2019t actually capture well enough, because a lot of graduate outcomes data is based on voluntary surveys,\u201d said Mao.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe would love to have more information from government and from our own institutional data to be able to give students more information \u2013 but the data is hard to crunch.\u201d<\/p>\n

Clark agreed that better graduate tracking is critical, particularly as more international students now stay in New\u202fZealand after study.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe know we can\u2019t track students very well, apart from institutional surveys,\u201d she said. \u201cBut increasingly, students are staying on shore in New Zealand, going into work. So we can, and we will be able to get something out of our government data on what\u2019s happening with their graduates when they transfer into the workforce.\u201d<\/p>\n

As Mao put it, the goal is \u201cstronger student outcomes and the outcomes properly tracked\u201d.<\/p>\n

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