The University of Waikato opened in 1964 – an urban university in rural heartland. Our motto is Ko Te Tangata – for the people, and has a strong partnership with Maori and in particular Tainui iwi.
The main campus is in Hamilton and there is also a campus in Tauranga, where a partnership with the Bay of Plenty Polytechnic delivers an ever-increasing range of programmes and qualifications.
More than 12,000 students make up the student population studying undergraduate, graduate and postgraduate qualifications across seven faculties. More than 2,000 students are Maori and more than 2,000 come from overseas. Waikato University Management School has triple crown accreditation for its executive education programmes and attracts high calibre arts and sports students through the Sir Edmund Hillary Scholarship programme that coaches and supports elite students financially while they study.
The University has an international reputation for providing carbon-dating services, and the School of Education leads the government-funded contract to deliver professional development in adult literacy and numeracy throughout New Zealand. The School’s key research centre is the Wilf Malcolm Institute of Educational Research (WMIER) established to undertake, support, and disseminate research relating to the broad field of education. A major centre of research excellence is being established in Tauranga in conjunction with Germany’s University of Bremen. Called INTERCOAST, postdoctoral researchers from the two countries are working together to study impacts of harbour development, protection of coastlines, management of fish stocks, habitat dynamics and ocean aquaculture. WaikatoLink is the university’s commercialisation arm and from that many businesses have been successfully spun off including Ectus, Endance and Khipu.
During the last 45 years the University of Waikato has developed a unique identity and a distinctiveness in three integrated themes: leadership, Maori and sustainability. There are scholarships and grants available that cover many subject areas at all levels of study.
