“To help Kiwis succeed we need a world-class tertiary education system that delivers modern skills, rewards research excellence and helps drive innovation,” Mr Goldsmith says.

The investment is part of the wider Innovative New Zealand package of Budget 2017 investments, through which $372.8 million will be invested over the next four years in science, skills, tertiary education and economic development to build a strong economic future for New Zealand.

The investments over four years are:

$52.5 million for the Performance-Based Research Fund to incentivise and reward high quality research in tertiary education
$69.3 million ($19.8 per year) for increased subsidy rates for tuition at qualification level three and above, helping providers to deliver skills and knowledge for a stronger economy
$6.8 million of funding ($1.7 million per year) to ensure Education New Zealand can support sustainable growth in the international education sector, with a focus on improving value across our regions
$3.5 million of reprioritised funding to meet increased demand for workplace-based literacy and numeracy programmes in 2018.

Read the full media release on the Beehive website.