EIT Chief executive Chris Collins is pleased to see student numbers growing.

More students, more international participation, new programmes: EIT is booming. For the academic year 2018 EIT recorded 10,330 students in total, 1000 students more compared to 2017. Of these students 58 percent were female and 42 percent were male.

This growth was also evident in the numbers of international students. Last year 1400 international students representing 46 countries chose EIT for their tertiary study, selecting one of the 140 programmes, while enjoying the easier paced lifestyle Hawke’s Bay has to offer, or choosing the option of studying at EIT’s international graduate school campus in central Auckland. This resulted in an increase of approximately 300 international students compared to the previous year, with most students at the graduate and postgraduate levels.

Official figures show that EIT had 4820 equivalent fulltime students (EFTS) which is over 300 more than 2017. High in demand are the 12 degree programmes. More than one third of the students enrolled in 2018 were studying at degree or postgraduate level.

Chief executive Chris Collins is pleased to see EIT academic programmes attracting strong demand from students and industry. EIT is the largest it has ever been. He puts the continued growth, when many others have experienced a down turn in student numbers, to several factors, “First the continued growth in international students choosing EIT as their institution of choice.

“Second the flexible opportunities to study either online, in work, or via a blended mix of face-to-face/in work/online, and either as part-time or full-time students. A third factor is the extensive off-campus delivery outreach EIT does into communities, such as on farms and marae”.  “A key final factor has been the strong partnerships and support of industry,” explains Chris Collins.

EIT programmes have been increasingly tailored to meet students’ needs. Last year 41 percent of all students were under 25 years of age.

Chris Collins also points out achievement for Māori students is strong and rates have hit new record levels, “Last year half of our domestic students were Māori, and up in Tairāwhiti it is up over 70 percent, one of the highest levels of Māori participation in the NZ tertiary sector”. 

While still early in the year, the forecast for 2019 looks strong with the latest enrolment numbers tracking ahead of last year. So EIT is looking forward to another very busy and active year as student number continue to grow.