Discussions on Q45

Discussions on Q45

Q45 Is the “New Zealand” brand an important part of international competition for students, staff, and education products and services? What should providers and government do to manage or enhance this brand?
See Discussion on Q26 for ensuring international standards in non-professional NZ degrees.

Let us recall the remark on page 71: Tertiary education providers share a “New Zealand” brand to the extent that exemplary (or bad) performance by one provider indirectly affects the reputation of others.

Ensuring that NZ's degree in a given subject is standardised across its six Universities and remains equivalent with its counterparts in the UK and the US will go a long way towards managing and enhancing the "New Zealand" brand.

Furthermore,  having high standards for international students (say by higher thresholds for English language exams or even requiring other standard exams such as the US GRE or equivalent), especially at the postgraduate level, can turn NZ into the preferred destination for bright international students, the core formula fuelling the engines of American innovation.

Thus, the immediate economic advantage to Universities by having full-fee paying international students need to be counterbalanced by the international admission standards (measured via standardised tests). To maintain the "New Zealand" brand, such international admission standards need to be made universal across all NZ Universities.