1000 more engineering places in 2013

There will be 1000 more engineering places available at universities and institutes of technology in 2013, Tertiary Education Skills and Employment Minister Steven Joyce announced today.

The Government is directly funding 700 extra places for engineering students, while institutions are re-prioritising a further 300 places to meet additional engineering demand Mr Joyce says.

“New Zealand has an undersupply of engineers. Historically the number we have been training is about half the OECD average,” Mr Joyce says.

“In this year’s Budget we addressed this issue by providing an additional $42 million to subsidise engineering tuition – or a 9 per cent funding increase per equivalent fulltime student.

"In addition to the $42 million, extra engineering places have been funded by an additional $8.3 million from TEC. The TEC anticipates the sector will reprioritise funding to meet the demand for engineering places.

“The Tertiary Education Commission is anticipating there will be approximately 8,785 equivalent fulltime students studying engineering at both diploma and degree level in 2013, an increase of 1000 places on the 7,785 EFTS the Universities and Polytechnics are delivering in 2012.

“By increasing the number of places available, the Government is on-track to make sure we are producing an extra 500 engineering graduates per year by 2017.

“The reality is if we want faster economic growth for New Zealand then we need to invest in skills that will help grow the economy. Having more engineers will assist in building a more productive and competitive economy.”