Retaining non‐traditional students: lessons learnt from Pasifika students in New Zealand

As New Zealand tertiary education has undergone extensive review processes, debate has centred not only on the need to extend the participation rates of groups previously under‐represented, but also how to retain these under‐represented groups once they are recruited into tertiary programmes. This paper draws on a large‐scale study of the factors that influence successful completion of tertiary qualifications for Pasifika students. Using a diverse range of data sources throughout New Zealand, the study identified a range of factors that impede retention, as well as positive factors that help increase retention. Its findings support the contention that the capacity of educational facilities to retain students is a function of the interface between student and institution, and the institution and the community.