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This paper explores recent changes in tertiary education policy in New Zealand, which are designed to address legitimation deficits. By offering an analysis of the making, and the subsequent unmaking, of quasi-markets in tertiary education, this paper attempts to describe how the state dealt with legitimation deficits resulting from providers' of tertiary education use of the adult and community education funding category to increase their revenues. In providing this description, the paper helps to provide a way of understanding how the state in New Zealand has responded to legitimation deficits by introducing a new regime of governance. The paper concludes by arguing that, in terms of its treatment of category 5.1 funding, this regime is supportive of neo-conservative goals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses New Zealand's role in the global market for tertiary education. The internationalisation and liberalisation of education markets is progressing rapidly in today's globalising world, as reflected by the incorporation of education as a service into the GATS framework. Through the example of New Zealand as a case study for the internationalisation of education services, the study depicts the way the government is involved in this process. Commodification of sectors traditionally subject to domestic public policy is often associated with a less interventionist state, but our example of education shows that this is not necessarily the case, at least not in the medium-term: New Zealand's government rather appears to be an active facilitator of the liberalisation process in education. We review its recent move towards treating education as an international export good and present data on the growth of this industry. The paper concentrates on the particular ways by which New Zealand's government is trying to facilitate this process of liberalising the education sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent research conducted by the Ministry of Education implies that the level of tertiary study has a bigger impact on people's earnings than the completion of a qualification. However, controlling for level of study, qualification completion does have a significant impact on earnings. Using data drawn from the integrated dataset on Student Loan Scheme borrowers, this study uses generalised logistic regression and other techniques to analyse the association between individuals' post-study earnings and demographic factors, study-related variables and industry of employment to isolate the earnings premium from qualification completion. It also examines the extent to which that premium endures over time. The study finds that while the main determinants of the level of earnings are factors such as industry of employment, qualification level, the type of tertiary education provider and the field of study, those who complete a qualification do have a substantial earnings margin over those who study at that level without completing. The paper also surveys evidence of the non-economic benefits of tertiary education in an effort to get a sense of breadth of the returns to society from its spending on tertiary education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the past two decades, references to "crises" in tertiary education – and in universities in particular – have appeared with increasing frequency in popular and academic texts. Some commentators have concentrated on shortfalls in funding and the exploitation of staff; others have focused on the "moral collapse" of the university, or on issues of curriculum reform and "political correctness" in the classroom. In New Zealand, as in many other countries of the Western World, serious concerns have been raised about the commodification, marketisation and privatisation of education at the university level. This paper provides a concise overview of recent changes in the tertiary sector in New Zealand, and considers possible futures for higher education in the 21st century. Special attention is paid to three themes: the emergence of the "perpetual chooser"; potential changes in conditions of work for academics; and the reconfiguration of academic priorities in the age of the market. The prospects for resistance against elements of the marketisation process are briefly assessed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]