Victoria University-Te Herenga Waka is having a record year, with Māori students now making up a record 13.4% of the university’s student population, despite cost pressures and changes to the tertiary sector.
Founded in 1897 as Victoria College with just 115 students, the university now has around 17,400 students. More than 2,300 are Māori, making up a record share of the student population.
“I tēnei tau kua neke atu i te 2,000 ngā akonga Māori kei waenganui i a mātau. Koina kē te nama nui mai i te timatanga o tō tātou whare wānanga,” says Tumu Ahurea Ahorangi Rawinia Higgins.
This number comes after changes like the first-year Fees Free scheme being scrapped in favour of final-year-only support, and the Tertiary Education Commission warning that core university operations are running below inflation.
Higgins says universities and students have unfairly become targets during political discussions made in Parliament.
“Koina kē te mahi pōuri i roto i ngā tōrangapū. Ka noho ko ngā whare wānanga pēnei, ko ngā tauira pēnei hei papa mō ngā whakawhiu kōrero, kei raro, kei tua o te hiwi nei ki te Pāremata,” she says.
Kua tuwhera ngā kuaha ki te motu
The university held its Open Day last week, welcoming students and their whānau to campus.
One pathway bringing more Māori students to the university is Te Paewai o Te Rangi, a week-long programme for Māori Year 13 students. It gives tauira the chance to experience university and explore their options for tertiary study.
Tommy Niha (Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Whātua ki Kaipara) is a second-year Bachelor of Communications student who came to Te Herenga Waka from Whangārei Boys’ High School after taking part in the programme.
“E karanga ana ki ngā Tau 13, ki ngā kura tuarua, kia tae mai ki tēnei kaupapa, kia whakatō mai ko ngā wheako hei puāwai mō tērā tau,” he says.
Niha says the university’s Māori spaces and opportunities have helped give him a sense of belonging.
“Ko ngā wheako ki tēnei whare wānanga, o ngā āheinga ki te noho hei ahuru mōwai ki tō mana ake, ki tō ake mana motuhake.”
Higgins says pathway programmes like Te Paewai o Te Rangi are part of a wider effort to create a place at the university where Māori students can maintain and strengthen their identity.
“E tino ngana nei mātau o te iho Māori o Te Herenga Waka, kia whakarite he wāhi mō te iwi Māori ki konei ki tēnei whare wānanga. Ka mutu koina te whakataukī o te whare wānanga; ko tōna iho ko te marae.”
Navigating the wider squeeze
The latest Ministry of Education figures show the broader pressure facing the sector: overall domestic Māori enrolments fell 1.3 per cent across Aotearoa in 2025 to 75,765, even as study volumes rose, indicating remaining tauira are carrying heavier workloads under financial stress.
Te Herenga Waka’s 2,390 domestic Māori enrolments sit alongside peers like Auckland (3,220) and Otago (2,655), while the Tertiary Education Commission warns that revenue increases are failing to keep pace with inflation and temporary funding uplifts are ending.
Higgins says the focus remains on building support for tauira.
“Koira tā mātau hiahia, kia kimi huarahi hei āwhina i ngā tauira i roto i ngā karahipi, ki te toro atu ki ō rātou iwi, kia eke panuku, kia eke tangaroa rātou.”
For Niha, the message to the next wave of tauira is simple.
“Ko taku akiaki ki ngā Tau 13, kia noho manawanui mai ki tō tātou whare wānanga. Kua noho tuwhera ngā kuaha i ngā wā katoa.”
