The Minister for Universities announced five new initiatives on Tuesday 2 September 2025:

• Developing a new Tertiary Education Strategy with the Minister for Vocational Education, focused on driving economic growth
• Creating a new University Strategy Group to work with the university sector on how it best gives effect to its role in the Strategy
• Replacing the Performance-Based Research Fund with a streamlined, more cost-effective Tertiary Research Excellence Fund
• Reviewing the regulatory framework for university quality assurance to improve quality, responsiveness and accountability, and
• Improving institutional and academic governance to ensure universities are well led and uphold academic standards.

Minister Reti also acknowledged the work of the University Advisory Group (UAG), led by Chair Sir Peter Gluckman. This work informed the considerations taken in developing these priorities for the tertiary sector.

The initiatives will be rolled out in consultation with universities, students, industry and communities, with further details to be announced in the coming months.

Read the Minister’s media release on the Beehive website.

For more information:

2025 Government priorities for the universities portfolio – Ministry of Education.