International students satisfied with NZ universities

The International Student Barometer Survey has found that 90% of international students studying at a New Zealand university are satisfied with their study experience here.

The independent survey, commissioned by Education New Zealand, investigated the expectations, perceptions and experiences of over 6000 international students from all eight universities.  It is part of a world-wide study which compares the experience of international students across different countries.

Chris Whelan, Executive Director of Universities New Zealand says, “We welcome this endorsement that New Zealand delivers high quality education.  New Zealand is the only country to have all its universities ranked within the top 3% in the world.”

“The survey found that 93% of international students chose to study in New Zealand because of the reputation of our universities.”

Other key deciding factors were personal safety closely followed by research quality.  Post-graduate students studying in New Zealand were more likely to see the reputation of an individual academic supervisor or professor as important.

Satisfaction with many of the more detailed aspects of the learning experience was high – 90% or above.  Students were most likely to be satisfied with the subject area expertise of lecturers or supervisors (94%), confidence about managing a post-graduate research project (93%), electronic learning environment (93%), online library (93%) and the physical library (92%).

Mr Whelan said the results are significant as international students are important to New Zealand’s future.

“We are a small island nation at the bottom of the world.  We need relationships with people from other countries and we need our own students to be capable of working in a global marketplace.  The global connections that our students make at university create business and employment opportunities for them when they graduate.”

“Additionally, international education is important to New Zealand’s economy.  It is our fifth largest export earner, with the university sector alone contributing over $1b to the NZ economy last year.”

“We know that happy satisfied international students are more likely to recommend New Zealand to their friends and relations.  This survey shows we are doing well.”

Mr Whelan said it is pleasing that the overall result has also improved 2% from last year.  He notes that New Zealand universities are working hard to further improve student experiences.  He says they are, for example, trying to increase work experience and placement opportunities for all students.  However he acknowledges that some aspects of the survey results, such as cost of living, are beyond universities’ control.

For more information: http://enz.govt.nz/news/international-student-barometer-results-0