Surge in enrolments for Waikato University

Media Release
March 2, 2009

Surge in enrolments for Waikato University

Enrolment numbers at Waikato University are up by 1000 on the same period last year – O-Week and the beginning of classes. (SUBS MAR 2)

Although final figures won’t be known for some weeks, enrolment numbers for the start of A Semester (Orientation Week) show the university is 14% ahead of the equivalent week last year.

At the end of Enrolment in Person Week last year, 8577 domestic and international students had enrolled at Waikato. At the same time this year, 9738 students are enrolled, with two more weeks of the enrolment process to go. Within that, international enrolments are up 13%.

In 2008, a total of 12,014 people were enrolled at Waikato University.

Vice-Chancellor Professor Roy Crawford says the increase to date in enrolments is pleasing. “Enrolment in Person Week last week (SUBS FEB 23-27) was extremely popular with hundreds of students pouring onto campus each day to finish their enrolment process.”

He says it’s good to see Waikato is attracting lots of new domestic and international students. “The past couple of years have seen lower numbers of international students enrol, largely because the previously large number of Chinese students in the early 2000s have now finished their degrees.”

Prof Crawford says it’s unclear what to attribute the increase in international students to. “It may well be a result of the international global downturn which makes it cheaper to study in New Zealand.

“We are committed to ongoing growth and believe the unique student experience we offer here will continue to attract high calibre students from the region, wider New Zealand and overseas. We adopt initiatives such as our new Student Centre to ensure we continue to provide the best possible research and teaching facilities.”

Prof Crawford says enrolments at the university’s Tauranga campus are also well up, with 500 people already enrolled – up from 305 in the same week in 2008. The Tauranga campus is already ahead of last year’s total number of people enrolled, which stood at 455 in December.

“Last year we developed our partnership with the BOP Polytechnic and extended the range of university of courses on offer. People studying in the Bay can now staircase easily from polytechnic courses to our university degrees.” He says a good example of that is the new Bachelor of Social Work, which is a response to a need in the rapidly growing region.

Prof Crawford says there is a worldwide pattern of university enrolments rising during a recession. “We don’t know yet how much of an impact that will have, but it makes sense that both school leavers and older students are ensuring they’re gaining the best qualifications for an increasingly competitive job market.”

He stresses accurate overall university enrolment trends for New Zealand won’t become apparent until April.

ENDS