Part 1: Introduction

1.2
In 2020/21, the Government invested more than $3.8 billion in tertiary education. This public money is invested through eight universities, three wānanga, Te Pūkenga – New Zealand Institute of Skills and Technology (Te Pūkenga) and its Crown entity subsidiary companies (the subsidiary companies), 11 industry training organisations, and more than 700 public and private tertiary education institutions.

1.3
This report provides our observations of the tertiary education sector in 2021. It draws on our 2020 audit findings.²

1.4
In Part 2, we look at the progress of the vocational education reforms.

1.5
In Part 3, we look at the Covid-19 pandemic's ongoing impacts on the tertiary education sector.

2: See Office of the Auditor-General (2021), Tertiary education institutions: Main findings from our 2020 audits, at oag.parliament.nz.