Tertiary education institutions: Results of the 2017 audits

The Auditor-General’s report Tertiary education institutions: Results of the 2017 audits was presented to the House of Representatives today.

This report summarises our audits of the 27 public tertiary education institutions (TEIs) that provide training, education, and research services. These 27 TEIs consist of eight universities, 16 institutes of technology and polytechnics (ITPs), and three wānanga.

All TEIs are operating in a changing student and policy environment with a decline in domestic student enrolments and changes in the demographics and number of international students.

Universities and wānanga were, for the most part, financially stable in 2017. Although not all ITPs are experiencing financial difficulties, the effect of the changes in student numbers have been more strongly felt by ITPs. The operating environment for ITPs in particular is challenging – the number of ITPs returning a deficit, and the combined size of that deficit, grew in 2017. Concerns about the viability of any institution is likely to adversely affect its student population. The quality of governance and robust financial management are always important but, in the current environment, both need to be exemplary.

In our report, we highlight four areas for ITP councils to pay particular attention to: the robustness of financial forecasts; the quality of significant business cases for investment in capital assets; strong governance oversight of financial controls and management; and transparent non-financial performance reporting.

An epub and two-page summary for this report are also available.

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