University Information The University of Waikato, located in Hamilton, New Zealand, is a premier university established in 1964, widely regarded as progressive and innovative. The university has over 14,000 students, including over 2,000 international students and about 2,500 Māori students.
Waikato is divided in to seven different schools of study/faculty:
Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences -- The Waikato Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences offers many of the same offerings as UMD in CLA and SFA. In addition, Asian languages and Asian, Pacific and Māori culture courses are offered.
School of Computing and Mathematical Sciences -- Waikato School of Computing and Mathematical Sciences offers courses in mathematics, computer science, artificial intelligence, graphics and multimedia, and software engineering.
School of Education -- Waikato School of Education offers courses in the areas of teacher education, sport and leisure studies, human development and education studies. Exchange students are recommended to take education courses in areas related to their field of teaching rather than education courses because the requirements for teaching certification vary significantly between countries.
School of Law
School of Māori and Pacific Development -- The Waikato School of Māori and Pacific Develop offers subjects that focus on experiences of Māori, Pacific Islands and indigenous peoples in development.
School of Science and Engineering -- Waikato School of Science and Engineering offers courses in the subjects and domains of biology, chemistry, earth sciences, engineering, environmental sciences, physics and psychology.
Waikato Management School -- The Waikato School of Management includes courses in accounting, marketing, economics, finance, international management and public relations.
Location Information
The University of Waikato is located on the North Island in Hamilton, New Zealand. The city has about 120,000 inhabitants and is the seventh largest city in New Zealand and fourth largest urban area. The city has an active music, art and café culture with distinctive New Zealand flavor. The climate in Hamilton is sub-tropical with four seasons. Summer is from December to mid-February, with temperatures up to 27 degrees Celsius. Winter is from June to August with daytime temperatures around 10 degrees Celsius. With its wide range of recreational opportunities, the city offers an attractive, relaxed way of life, great outdoors and a healthy environment.
Within one and a half hours drive of Hamilton are many of New Zealand's major lifestyle attractions, including excellent surfing and swimming beaches, forest parks, lakes, thermal pools, and limestone caves. The North Island's mountain ski areas are only three hours away. Nearby Rotorua, a two-hour drive, is famous for its Māori cultural center and geothermal activity, including geysers and thermal pools. The largest city in New Zealand and capital city, Auckland, is located just north of Hamilton.
New Zealand lies in the South Pacific and consists of two main islands, the North and South Islands. Together, these are similar in size to Japan or the United Kingdom. The country is three hours by air from the east coast of Australia and is an overnight flight from the west coast of the USA. New Zealand has a reputation for being friendly, safe and relaxed. It is an English-speaking country with a culturally diverse population of approximately four million people including the Māori, the indigenous people of New Zealand. Waikato is Māori for "flowing water" and is the name of New Zealand's longest river.
Course Information
Classes at Waikato are referred to as “papers" and are measured by a system of points. Translating from points at Waikato to UMD credits, 20 points = 5 credits, 15 points = 4 credits, and 10 points = 3 credits. Students are limited to a maximum of 60 points per semester.
Course Offerings To view the most up-to-date course offerings, please navigate to view papers through Waikato's Catalogue of Papers at the University of Waikato website.
UMD Credit
To see how credits transfer to UMD, please view current course equivalencies for University of Waikato. If the class you wish to enroll in has not been reviewed follow the instructions on the IEO Course Equivalency web page.
If the course you want to take abroad been has not been reviewed at UMD, request a syllabus here.
Academic Credit
UMD students who study abroad are registered for a block of Foreign Studies credits by staff in the International Education Office (IEO) so there is no “transfer credit.” Course choices are examined by the department heads in appropriate departments to determine whether the courses will count towards the student’s major, minor, or liberal education requirements at UMD.
When students return from abroad and grades are posted, the block of credits disappears and individual courses appear on the transcript with the equivalent UMD course also listed. If there is no equivalent course at UMD, the foreign course title is listed. To find out which courses have already been approved, please look at the IEO website for University of Waikato equivalencies. New courses are added as they are approved.
Eligibility
Students must have a minimum of one full year of college prior to beginning of program. For some areas of study, students should have completed substantial upper division course work in their field of study. If students wish to study in the areas of science and engineering, they should have a strong background in mathematics and physics.
A GPA of 2.5 is required by University of Waikato. Students with a GPA slightly lower than 2.5 may be accepted if an additional letter of reference is provided with the Waikato application. (One letter of reference from a faculty member or academic advisor is required.)
Students are tentatively accepted by the International Education Office at UMD after an interview by a staff member in the International Education Office. Final acceptance is given by University of Waikato. Students outside the University of Minnesota system are eligible to apply and may be interviewed by phone. Many areas of study require pre-requisite courses.
Information about areas of study at Waikato can be found on their website at: http://www.waikato.ac.nz/. Degrees or qualifications are the tracks of study towards a degree (e.g. Bachelor's degree). A major is a set of courses in a preferred subject as part of a degree. Individual courses that make up a degree are called “papers.”
Costs
The International Education Office at UMD tries to keep the costs of its study abroad programs as affordable as possible. The program cost per semester to attend University of Waikato can be found here.
Costs in New Zealand will vary depending upon the exchange rate between the US dollar and the New Zealand dollar. Fluctuating currency exchange rates may increase or decrease the cost of your international experience. Financial aid may be used toward the program fee, except for tuition waivers such as Best in Class. There are several study abroad scholarships for University of Minnesota students.
Deadlines & Dates Deadlines to apply to a program occur during the semester previous to that which you wish to study abroad. A student registered for study abroad during UMD's fall semester will be studying during Semester B at Waikato, which runs from July until November. A student registered for study abroad during UMD's spring semester will be studying during Semester A at Waikato, which runs from February/March until June. Keep in mind that climatic seasons in New Zealand are opposite from seasons in North America. Thus, UMD's spring is Waikato's fall and vice versa.
Study: Fall semester or full academic year
UMD Deadline to apply: March 15
Fall semester: early July - mid November
Study: Spring semester or calendar year
UMD Deadline to apply: October 15
Spring orientation dates:
mid- to late February
Spring semester: late February - late June
For more information on the academic calendar at University of Waikato, click here.
Orientation
At least one pre-departure orientation and one on-site orientation will be held. Pre-departure
orientation will be held to assist participants for their term(s) abroad. Items addressed will include student visa, housing options, classes, travel tips, general study abroad handbook, New Zealand handbook. Waikato also holds an orientation week for students before classes begin. Students should arrive approximately a week before orientation week.
Housing
Students can select from a wide variety of housing opportunities:
Waikato Halls of Residence or residing off-campus with an array of options including living with a host family. On campus housing is always in high demand, and program participants are not guaranteed residence in the halls. The University of Waikato offers a comprehensive housing service to students with many resources available for locating safe, affordable housing.
Halls of Residence typically consist of a single study bedroom with shared kitchen and bathroom facilities. All units are fully furnished. The halls have residential assistants (like an American university RA) who are senior students, available for assistance to students.
What's Next?
Before applying, it is a good idea to follow the steps under steps to studying abroad. The IEO website also provides information on financing, health & safety and other important information to consider when choosing to study abroad. When ready to apply, the UMD study abroad application may be downloaded from the IEO website. Please complete the application with required accompanying materials and return it to IEO.
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