The funding mechanism for Equity funding is issued by the Minister responsible for tertiary education. The funding mechanism outlines the general form and essential components of the fund. It provides the mandate for us to allocate the funding and what the funding can be used for, and details how we administer the fund.

Funding is agreed through a tertiary education organisation’s (TEO’s) Investment Plan (Plan). A TEO that receives Equity funding is required to:

• comply with requirements of the Education Act 1989, and
• comply with the conditions in its funding approval documents.

TEOs set participation and achievement rates for Māori and Pasifika students as part of their Plan. We expect each TEO to support Māori and Pasifika students to achieve at the same rates as other students in:

• participation in tertiary education
• retention
• completion rates, and
• progression to higher levels.

A TEO's Plan should address its engagement with Māori and Pasifika students, and their communities, to successfully transition students from secondary school into tertiary education.

Our approach to calculating your 2021 allocation for Equity funding

The purpose of Equity funding

Equity funding supports tertiary education organisations (TEOs) to improve access, participation, and achievement of Māori and Pasific learners at higher levels of the tertiary education system, as well as participation and achievement of students with disabilities.

Equity funding for Māori and Pasific students is designed to improve these learners’ participation in, and achievement at, higher levels of the tertiary education system (level 5 and above on the New Zealand Qualifications Framework).

Equity funding for students with disabilities is designed to improve these learners’ participation in tertiary education and achievement of qualifications.

How we calculate your 2021 Equity funding

To be eligible to receive Equity funding a TEO must receive Student Achievement Component (SAC) funding in 2021.

Allocations for each Te Pῡkenga - New Zealand Institute of Skills and Technology (NZIST) subsidiary will be based on the 2020 data for it or for the Institute of Technology and Polytechnic (ITP) it replaces. 

An indicative funding allocation may be made to a TEO that later transfer’s delivery to a transitional or other TEO.  In that case, we will engage with the new TEO to transfer and adjust the allocation.   

Increase in funding rates

The 2021 funding rates below include a general 1.6% increase to funding for 2021.

Equity funding for Māori and Pacific learners

We will use your 2019 SDR enrolment data to determine the number of EFTS consumed by Māori and Pacific learners, by level of the qualification. 

The indicative allocation funding calculation for Māori and Pacific learners will depend on:

• the learner’s ethnicity;
• the NZQF qualification level the learners are enrolled in; and
• the volume of EFTS delivered.

We use the rates outlined in the table below to calculate your allocation. 

All rates exclude GST

Tertiary Students with Disabilities

Tertiary Education Institution (TEIs) are eligible to receive Equity funding for tertiary students with disabilities (TSD). We will calculate the EFTS for the 2021 funding allocation for TSDs using the data from the Mixes of Provision submitted by TEIs for 2021. We will use a set rate of $29.06 (GST Exclusive) per SAC-funded EFTS to calculate TSD funding.

Please note: if a provider receives a proposed zero allocation for their 2021 SAC level 3 and above allocation, then we will automatically ring-fence their Equity funding until the final SAC level 3 and above 2021 allocation is approved.

Providers will not be eligible to receive Equity funding if they receive a final zero allocation for the 2021 SAC level 3 and above funding.

If you receive Equity funding that is greater than it should have been, or that you were not entitled to receive, we will recover the extra funding.

See: Condition: Repayment of Equity funding.

Māori and Pacific students

Equity funding for Māori and Pacific students is based on a TEO's December Single Data Return (SDR) from the previous year. We use SDR-reported Māori and Pacific equivalent full-time students (EFTS) to calculate the funding.

The funding should be used specifically for the learner type it is allocated to.

Funding rate

Students with disabilities 

Equity funding for students with disabilities is allocated at a set rate per SAC-funded EFTS agreed in the Plan of a tertiary education institution (TEI).

The funding should be used specifically for students with disabilities.

Funding rate

Equity funding is paid in equal monthly instalments from January to June, and in equal monthly instalments from July to December.

Under section 159YG of the Education Act 1989 (the Act), we may suspend or revoke some or all funding given under section 159YA of the Act if we are satisfied on reasonable grounds that:

• the TEO has not complied, or is not complying, with a condition on which funding has been given under section 159YA of the Act, or
• the TEO has not provided, or is not providing, adequate and timely information required by the TEC or Ministry of Education under section 159YC of the Act.   

If a TEO has its funding approval revoked in accordance with section 159YG of the Education Act 1989, the unspent portion of funding is repayable to us (see Condition: Suspension, revocation or withdrawal of Equity funding).