UC in the City Lecture Series - Business and Economics

Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Business and Economics) Professor Nigel Healey presents “Is open entry to New Zealand universities a human right or a utopian ideal past its use-by date?”

New Zealand is internationally renowned for a university system which combines research excellence with accessibility and affordability for students. The country enjoys one of the highest tertiary participation rates in the world, an achievement underpinned by the 1989 Education Act which enshrines in statute the right of school leavers with “university entrance” to enrol at a university of their choosing. This entitlement is extended to all citizens and permanent residents once they reach the age of 20, regardless of prior academic achievement. Once enrolled, domestic students automatically qualify for means-tested allowances and interest-free loans to cover their tuition and living costs.

In the aftermath of the global financial crisis, this right to a university education is being challenged, as the government seeks to control public expenditure and universities respond to the new financial realities. Several universities have adopted selective entry for school leavers, others have tightened progression standards and curtailed summer schools and mid-year entry. For the first time in two decades, there is a real prospect that New Zealanders will be denied entry to a university education. This lecture explores the growing controversy around access to higher education and debates the arguments for and against an accessible university system in a post-industrial knowledge economy.

Professor Healey is Pro-Vice-Chancellor of the College of Business and Economics at the University of Canterbury. His current research focuses on the internationalisation of higher education, with particular reference to the Asia-Pacific region, and the development of higher education policy. He has managed a number of international educational development projects and served as a policy advisor to the governments of Russia, Belarus and Bulgaria. Most recently, he has been part of a UNESCO team studying the impact of the global financial crisis on higher education policy and institutions across the Asia-Pacific. He currently chairs the conference organising committee for QS-APPLE, an annual conference for Asia-Pacific university presidents and senior policymakers tracking developments in regional higher education.

The lecture is part of the 2010 UC in the City lecture series which showcases research coming out of the University's colleges, schools and research centres. Entry is free. As seating is limited, please arrive early to ensure your seat in the Philip Carter Family Auditorium.

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