Gradually, students are modifying their preferences in terms of selecting study destinations. More and more countries are devising their policies in favor of international students to lure them. One such nation with extending popularity among generation Z of the cosmos is New Zealand. Following is the comprehensive guide for international students to study in New Zealand.

Education System in New Zealand

Higher education in New Zealand is delivered to students through three different types of educational institutions: 

1. Universities – New Zealand is dwelling to eight prestigious universities of which all of them come under the list of top 100 universities in at least one discipline. These universities provide higher degree programs in almost all disciplines. 

2.  ITPs (Institutes of Technology and Polytechnics) – Polytechnics are institutes where students are taught basically through work experiences. Around 24 polytechnic institutes are there both present in rural and urban areas. However, the span of the courses is longer and study hours per day are less. 

3. PTEs (Private Training Establishments) – PTEs are fundamentally higher education institutes providing both part time and full time diploma and certificate programs in vocational disciplines. New Zealand is reported to have 9 Private training establishments.

Study Visa requirements 

Well, there are variety of visa options if you wish to study in New Zealand as long as you aim to study in the country for more than six months and your age is more than 18 years. Following are the study visa options among which students can make choice:

1. Pathway Student Visa – With this visa, you can complete three courses sequentially over the period of 5 years and you also get benefit of working part time. 

2. Fee Paying Student Visa – This visa will allow student to pursue a full time course of duration at most 4 years and also work for part time. 

3. Foreign Government Supported Student Visa – The foriegn government sponsors the study of student under this visa and allows student to pursue full time higher education for up to four years.

4. Exchange Student Visa – The visa is backed by an approved exchange program and permit to study for full time for at most 4 years. 

Generally, Indian students prefer to take fee paying student visa. 

Cost of Education

Primarily, tuition fees of educational institutes would be major part of your expenses while studying abroad. The courses in disciplines like humanities, arts, etc are less expensive medical, engineering and MBA courses are the most expensive ones. On the basis of the level of course, following are the average tuition fees: 

• Bachelor courses- NZ $20,500 – NZ $25,000 per year

• Master courses – NZ $19,000 – NZ $29,000 per year

• MBA – NZ $31,000 – NZ $50, 000 per year

• Doctoral programs – NZ $6,500 – NZ $9,000 per year

Best Universities in New Zealand 

Following is the list of best universities in New Zealand along with their QS World University rankings – 

• University of Auckland – Rank 85

• University of Otago – Rank 194

• Victoria University of Wellington – Rank 236

• University of Canterbury – Rank 258

• Massey University – Rank 284

Top Courses in New Zealand 

The top-notch course domains for which the higher educational institutes are popular all over the world are: 

• Medicine 

• Data Science

• Computer Science and technology 

• Civil and Environmental Engineering

• International Management

• Electrical and Electronic Engineering