Across the motu, universities are opening their doors to new students, offering a range of programmes and opportunities, but for Māori, the picture is more complex: how many are enrolling in tertiary education, and what are they doing to address the barriers that prevent rangatahi from accessing higher education? From financial challenges to cultural support, understanding these efforts is key to helping Māori students succeed.
Last week, Te Herenga Waka (Victoria University) opened its doors to potential new students, Te Ao Māori News spoke with rangatahi about their hopes, challenges and experiences in pursuing tertiary education.
Holden Talapa (Ngāti Kahungunu, Rongomawahine) a prospective student at Open Day, plans to study music.
“Being honest uni wasn’t like, I mean a main goal for me like during college but in the last like two years I just wanted to switch up because none of my family have ever been to uni I wanted to be the first and hopefully my little brothers follow. ”
Te Atahaia Durie (Ngāti Kauwhata, Rangitāne, Ngāti Porou, Te Aitanga-a-Hauiti) also attended Open Day, exploring the possibility of studying psychology.
“I ahu mai au i tētahi whānau ko te mātauranga te tino kaupapa pea ki a mātou ko te mātauranga, ā, he mea tuku iho me kī, i roto i tōku whānau.”
Kohae Cherrington (Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Hine) a student from Manukura school was also in attendance.
“Ko te mea pai kia noho hei Māori i roto i te whare wānanga pea, ko te whakamōhio atu ki te ao kei konei tonu ngā Māori i roto i tēnei tāone, ka mutu, ka whai wāhi hoki te Māori te whakapuaki i tōna ahurea, i tōna reo.”
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Tertiary Education Commission statistics show that overall university enrolments have grown over the past five years, rising from 180,120 to 186,225 students. Māori enrolments have also increased slightly, from 18,155 to 19,030, making up roughly 10% of the total.
The growth varies by institution where we saw Canterbury and Lincoln with strong proportional increases in Māori students and Massey and AUT experiencing declines.
Another statistic reveals that Māori are continuing their studies after their first year. With a retention rate in Auckland being over 80% and Te Herenga Waka (Victoria University) just below 68%.
At Te Herenga Waka (Victoria University), Māori students make up 13.3% of the student body, up from 12.6% last year. By August 2025, the university had 1,924 Māori EFTS, an increase of 156 from 1,768 at the same time in 2024.
Overall, Māori participation shows more fluctuation than total enrolments. Revealing the ongoing challenges in achieving consistent representation and support across universities.
Meegan Hall (Ngāti Ranginui, Ngāi Te Rangi, Ngāti Tūwharetoa, Ngāti Apakura) of Te Herenga Waka’s Toi Mātauranga Māori spoke about the ongoing challenges faced by the university and its students since COVID. Despite the slow recovery, course completion rates have continued to rise.
“Through the work of āwhina, our Māori students support and all of the curriculum redevelopment, the use of our data to track students and support them where they need that help is being working together to ensure that our course completion figures have been increasing and our overall qualification completions for Māori students is also been increasing.”
Hall says that university graduates are more likely to earn a higher income, provide a better quality of life for their whānau and support their wider community.
“We’re really focused on the holistic improvement across our Māori communities not just the individual achievement.”
The university’s first open day at their new marae, Ngā Mokopuna, welcomed visitors from across the motu. Kaitawaka Māori Te Mapihi Kahurangi Tutua-Nathan (Ngāti Tūwharetoa, Ngāti Awa, Raukawa ki Wharepuhunga) took part in the official welcome.
“As the minority it’s really easy to walk into a lecture theatre of 340 people and not see a single person that looks like you or sounds like you or understands what you’re about and so here at Te Herenga Waka and in my role we talk about how we can make the minority a majority or how we can make you feel like the majority.”
Matangi Vitolio (Ngāi Te Rangi, Ngāti Ranginui, Ngāti Pukenga, Ngā Potiki, Hāmoa), a current tauira at Te Herenga Waka (Victoria University), said he personally didn’t face barriers or challenges within the tertiary education space but could see how others did.
“I see a lot of my fellow peers and classmates who whakapapa Māori, they struggle with like the broad Western white theories, ideologies, abstracts and I think like I wanna be there to support our students.”
Te Herenga Waka (Victoria University) offers a one-year pre-degree programme, the Tohu Māoritanga, to help students gain entry into their chosen degree. The university also supports Māori students through a dedicated team providing holistic care, including social, wellbeing, and academic support, to help address barriers and challenges to higher education.
