A part of the world’s ‘five-star’ constellation

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THINK-New-Zealand-Logo---plLINCOLN University joined four other New Zealand institutions in being recognised as a Five Stars institution by the QS Intelligence Unit last month.

With this recognition, Lincoln University joins the University of Auckland, Auckland University of Technology, Massey University and the University of Canterbury in the five stars ‘constellation’.

Leading the pack is the University of Auckland with its Five Stars Plus recognition.

The QS Stars is a worldwide university rating system which allows students to get a wider picture of an institution’s qualities, based on a total of 11 criteria – Research, Teaching, Employability, Internationalisation, Facilities, Online/Distance Learning, Social Responsibility, Innovation, Arts & Culture, Inclusiveness and Specialist Criteria.

The methodology is designed to allow students to get a wider picture of an institution’s qualities and to reflect the nuanced mission of universities as well as the needs of students who may be interested in things other than those to which traditional rankings are necessarily limited.

In particular, the five New Zealand universities all earned Five Stars in the Internationalisation category, which looked at the proportion of international students and staff and strength of international partnerships with other universities.

Teaching and Facilities were also among the top criteria that the universities fulfilled in a bid to achieve the Five Stars recognition.

These categories look at the institutions’ teaching quality assessments and the universities’ infrastructure respectively.

Education New Zealand (ENZ) South and Southeast Asia regional director Ziena Jalil pointed out that having five New Zealand universities out of the total eight recognised as Five Stars institutions highlights the country’s status as a quality education destination.

“New Zealand’s universities are committed to providing high-quality education opportunities for all their students – both local and international. All the universities in the country feature globally in the top 3 per cent of institutions in the 2014 QS World University Rankings. Many New Zealand university programmes also feature in the Top-50 QS Subject rankings internationally.

“The business schools in three of our universities – the University of Waikato, the University of Auckland and Victoria University of Wellington – also hold the prestigious ‘Triple Crown’ accreditation. Only 73 business schools around the world have been given this sought-after accreditation,” she said.

She said having New Zealand universities attain such global recognition is testament to the excellent teaching and research, institutional facilities and support services that are provided for both local and international students.

Those interested to learn more about education opportunities in New Zealand can visit the Borneo Post International Education Fair (BPIEF) in February, where ENZ will be showcasing the different education opportunities available in New Zealand.

For more information about education opportunities in New Zealand go to www.studyinnewzealand.com.