Host Alex Usher speaks with Roger Smyth, a tertiary education consultant and former senior official at New Zealand’s Ministry of Education, about the country’s recent higher education policy changes and what the upcoming election could mean for the sector.

They discuss the government’s reforms to research funding, including a shift towards metrics-based assessment and greater centralization, the end of the fees-free tuition policy, and New Zealand’s relatively successful recovery in international student enrolments. The conversation also explores the government’s efforts to align research more closely with economic priorities, and the implications for funding in areas such as the social sciences and humanities.

Smyth also examines the higher education platforms of the major parties ahead of the November election, including competing proposals to reduce graduate student debt and the potential influence of smaller parties on international education policy. He considers whether a change of government is likely to bring meaningful changes to New Zealand’s higher education system, or whether the fundamental policy settings are likely to remain much the same.

👉 Episode Links:

• University Advisory Group — Final Report
• NZ Tertiary Education Strategy 2025–2030
• The State of Postsecondary Education in Canada 2026