University of Auckland's Dr Erik Lithander is witnessing the long-awaited return of international students. Photo / Dean Purcell
New Zealand universities are seeing a rebound in international students after a slump caused by border closures during Covid. It comes as the Government looks to double the sector’s contribution to the economy to $7.2 billion. So what is enticing students to come here?
Foreign students are flocking back to New Zealand.
In a post-Covid world in which the economy and university finances are sluggish, a surge in people signing up to study is a signal that the tide is turning after years of falling numbers.
The numbers at the biggest tertiary institutions help tell the story.
University of Auckland’s international student enrolments rose from 7700 equivalent full-time students (EFTS) last year to 8890 this year. Ministry of Education data shows a 14% increase in international student enrolments for all universities in 2024.
“We’re seeing growth and demand to come to New Zealand,” says Dr Erik Lithander, University of Auckland’s deputy vice-chancellor of strategic engagement.
Speaking to the Herald on Sunday from inside the university’s historic clocktower, he describes a “significant demand” internationally for spots at universities.
One reason could be that some of New Zealand’s main competitors, such as the United States and Australia, appear “less attractive” to international students because of unwelcoming immigration policies.
A plan in Australia to cap the number of foreign student entries to universities was recently scrapped by the Albanese Government in favour of allowing 25,000 additional places.
Australia has one of the highest concentrations of international students in the world, and the numbers were a hot topic in the build-up to the election earlier this year.
University of Waikato Vice-Chancellor Neil Quigley says the growth in international student enrolments has been “rapid”.
If the increase continues at its current rate, universities could face decisions about how to manage the demand.
“In the last two years, each year our international student numbers have grown about 50%.”
Universities are quick to say that international students offer far more than just a boost in revenue. They enrich domestic students’ study experience by making campuses more culturally diverse.
However, most also concede that the revenue from overseas student fees is critical to universities’ economic sustainability.
Quigley says that, in a muted market for domestic students, international students are important to universities facing high fixed costs and rising expenses for campus facilities and IT upgrades.
“But we also have to spend quite a lot on recruitment and pastoral care and so on for international students, so the extra income associated with international students is, you know, on a per-student basis, material.”
Government funding for universities is “constrained”, Lithander says, and international student fee revenue is an area that can grow.
Quigley says that, for a long time, the number of school leavers with University Entrance has “not really grown”.
Victoria University of Wellington international office director Amy Rutherford says it does not have a specific target number for international students, but it wants to see general growth.
As part of this, it said international students would be permitted to work longer hours of up to 20 to 25 hours a week while on a student visa, and that work rights would be extended to all university students in approved exchange programmes.
But Liban Ali, president of the Victoria University of Wellington Students’ Association, worries about the impact this could have on international students, who carry a “massive financial burden” from fees.
“It needs to be more equitable. I understand that universities need a source of income and the funding pressures they face, but it can come at the expense of student wellbeing for internationals.”
International students face the risk of “falling through the cracks” if they are not well looked after in the early stages of their university experience.
Moving abroad and having to adjust to a new language, city and culture, as well as the pressure to perform well in their studies, could easily isolate foreign students, he says.
Data from the Tertiary Education Commission (TEC) shows universities generated $586,030 in international student fee income in 2024.
University of Auckland collected $216,845, which was the highest of the eight universities.
Auckland University of Technology (AUT) was the second highest, collecting $91,665.
Amy Malcolm, AUT’s assistant vice-chancellor of engagement, says it aims to increase international student numbers, but it’s a balancing act.
“It is definitely an area that universities can invest in to become more sustainable, but we do it very consciously and carefully … so that we get the full benefits of that international audience, which is much bigger than just the money.”
For most universities, the country providing the most international students is China, followed by India, Vietnam and the United States.
In the Government’s announcement, Education Minister Erica Stanford highlighted how each international student can spend up to $45,000 across a single year, addressing the way students affect a city’s surrounding economy.
Heart of the City chief executive Viv Beck says students make up about 25% of Auckland’s central-city population, with more than 70,000 living near the AUT and University of Auckland campuses. “We really welcome them with open arms”.
Businesses around Chancery Square and Lorne St were observing “organic growth” in the student market, with international students often looking to spend in the evenings.
“Pre-Covid, we were really starting to get a more vibrant nighttime and, obviously, that came to a crashing halt,” Beck says.
“Now we’re hoping to see more of that … particularly amongst the internationals, they value having a late-night economy. I don’t mean just bars but entertainment; it might be pool halls, escape rooms or karaoke.”
There are multiple reasons why international students choose New Zealand, but Lithander says many view it as a safe country with beautiful scenery. Meanwhile, the city of Auckland offers a diverse range of cuisine options and a high population of expatriates to connect with.
One of the main attractions for international students when choosing a university is its ranking, he says.
University of Auckland is ranked 65th by the QS World University Rankings 2026, and Otago University is ranked 197th.
Malcolm says the city centre experienced “a real hollowing-out” of young, diverse people when international students were stuck offshore because of Covid.
During that period, University of Auckland set up an arrangement for 1500 of its international students to study at the campuses of partner universities in China and use their gyms and social spaces.
“Compared to trying to study online or from their bedroom at home, or sitting in their living room, they were having a university experience,” Lithander says.
He thinks this helped the university to retain its international students once the borders reopened, placing it in a strong position to further lift enrolments.
However, Ali thinks the current fee landscape doesn’t bode well for domestic or international students.
“For all students, the fees continuously going up means it’s going to get to a point where only people who are well-off or have families to support them will be able to come to university.”
Rutherford says international students are not “just about fee revenue” but can also develop longstanding links between countries.
In her former job, she worked as Education New Zealand’s Americas, Middle East and Europe regional director at the New Zealand embassy in Washington, DC.
She says international students can be “a mechanism of soft power” for governments and can support trade links for countries.
For the past 25 years, since New Zealand began embracing international students, large numbers of them have gone on to hold positions of influence in governments or in commerce in countries such as China, she says.
For foreign students moving away from their social and family networks, university halls of residence offer a way to transition into New Zealand life.
The halls can help international students to find friends to flat with, which can lengthen their study time.
At Otago University, there are 169 flats owned by the university, each of which has a Kiwi host who pays reduced fees and acts as a guide for their foreign flatmates.
In 2025, there were 1324 international students in Otago University’s flats and 201 in the halls of residence. The hall numbers almost doubled from last year, with a university spokesperson saying it was “the largest number of commencing international students in our history”.
However, total international enrolments aren’t expected to exceed pre-Covid levels until 2026.
Halls of residence at University of Auckland and Victoria have also grown their numbers, and are sitting well above pre-Covid levels.
Victoria’s halls have 716 international students this year, after a large dip in 2021 and 2022 when numbers fell as low as 169.
For Ali, it’s important that universities and the Government keep students front of mind in their pursuit of growth.
“You have to find that balance, because you don’t want to get into a spot where you’re just hoarding international students. You still have to meet the demand that is here.”
Eva de Jong is a reporter covering general news for the New Zealand Herald, Weekend Herald and Herald on Sunday. She was previously a multimedia journalist for the Whanganui Chronicle, covering health stories and general news.
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