Investing government funding
Ā te kāwanatanga pūtea tautoko
We invest government funding, through and contracts with .
We invest government funding, through and contracts with .
We invest in all forms of post-secondary school education and training, including foundation education, adult and community education and research. We also fund some programmes that link schools with tertiary education, including and .
Tertiary education includes:
- certificate, degree, diploma and postgraduate level study at universities, Te Pūkenga and its subsidiaries, and private training establishments (PTEs)
- foundation learning, such as adult literacy and numeracy
- industry training including apprenticeships arranged through the Transitional Industry Training Organisations (TITOs)
- adult and community education.
Who we invest in
TEOs provide tertiary education and training to meet the needs of a wide range of people of different ages, backgrounds and learning stages. Over 700 TEC-funded TEOs across New Zealand deliver thousands of courses to hundreds of thousands of learners.
In 2019/2020, we invested over $3.3 billion in the tertiary education and careers systems.
How we invest funding
We invest government funding through Investment Plans and contracts with TEOs, to achieve better outcomes for New Zealand and learners.
These funds support different activities and types of education and training in the tertiary sector. Our largest fund is the Fund, which provides the Government’s contribution to the costs of teaching and learning and other costs related directly to learner participation.
We hold investment planning rounds and publish our Plan Guidance, to let TEOs know about our current funds. TEOs apply to us for funding and need to complete an application or Investment Plan.
Our Investment Managers work closely with TEOs to agree how and where to invest the relevant funds. Our Board of Commissioners gives final funding approval.
Future funding changes under RoVE
As part of the Reform of Vocational Education, we are working to reform the funding system for vocational education. The new Unified Funding System (UFS) will apply to all provider-based and work-integrated education at certificate and diploma qualification levels 3 to 7 (excluding degree study) and all industry training.
This includes learning delivered and arranged by the Te Pukenga/New Zealand Institute of Skills and Technology, wānanga, private training establishments and universities.
Further information about the UFS is available on the our website.