8 June 1992 Lincoln Popular Destination for Auckland School-Leavers

Lincoln is an increasingly popular university choice for Auckland school-leavers, and Liaison Officer Ron Hickford has the figures to prove it.

A team of Lincoln staff members is in Auckland this week visiting schools and explaining the University's degree and diploma courses.

"Four years ago Lincoln had just 82 students from Auckland, now we have 282 and interest is growing all the time," says Mr Hickford.

"Reasons for the growth are many and varied. They range from academic considerations such as unrestricted entry to the Commerce degree programmes and the availability of specialist degrees such as Landscape Architecture, Parks and Recreation Management and Resource Studies, to 'lifestyle' matters such as the cost of living being lower down South, and the abundance of outdoor recreational activities in the South Island.

"The attraction of being able to spend three or four years in the South Island is a very real factor.

"There have been significant changes in the range of courses offered at Lincoln University and the careers for which they prepare students. Few people are aware that the majority of students at Lincoln are studying for Commerce degrees and that the second largest group is enrolled in our social science and management degree, the Bachelor of Parks and Recreation Management.

"Fewer than one student in five at Lincoln is now studying a course directly related to agriculture. In addition, 40 percent of our student population is now female, and there is a slow but steady increase in the number of Maori and Polynesian students."

The Lincoln liaison team – representing most of the University's teaching areas – opened its Auckland visit by hosting a social and "information up-dating" function for secondary school careers advisers. During the week all secondary schools in the Auckland area – from Kaipara to Waiuku – are being visited personally to meet staff and talk to senior students who may be contemplating tertiary courses of the type offered by Lincoln. They are being given information covering fees, allowances, accommodation, career prospects and the appropriate choice of seventh form subjects.

Ian Collins, Journalist, Lincoln University, Canterbury, New Zealand