Victoria University of Wellington

Victoria University of Wellington is located in Wellington, New Zealand’s vibrant and cosmopolitan capital city. Victoria offers students the opportunity to live and study in New Zealand’s cultural, political, and intellectual capital. Victoria has a strong research focus and was established in 1899, making it among the oldest universities in New Zealand. Victoria prides itself as a university with a significant international focus and a strong domestic base. The University is home to over 21,000 students, including around 2,700 international students.

Victoria University has four campuses in Wellington, three of which are located in the inner city all within 10 minutes' walk of each other. The main Kelburn campus enjoys an idyllic setting, with its elevated position commanding stunning views over the harbor. The Law School occupies the historic government buildings opposite Parliament and adjacent to the High Court, while the Schools of Architecture and Design occupy a large, award-winning building in the midst of the cafés, galleries and old bookstores in the central city’s heart.

Students studying humanities and social sciences and science courses will be based on Kelburn campus. Facilities include a main library, cafés, a bank, book centers, computer shop, complimentary local newspaper, recreation and cultural facilities, and a medical center. The Students Association helps students in many ways and funds almost 100 social, sporting, cultural, and ethnic clubs, which help to make students feel at home in their new learning environment. At the newly renovated Recreation Centre, open up to 16 hours a day, students can get involved in a wide variety of health and fitness activities, outdoor pursuits, dance classes, as well as arts and crafts.

Located in Wellington are Crown Research Institutes, the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa, and national cultural assets such as the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra. Victoria has strong links with these institutions in both teaching and research, as well as with the city’s many other museums, archives, libraries, scientific institutes, cultural bodies, financial, legal and business institutions, and political and government agencies. Victoria University prides itself on being world class in the areas of Earthquake and Antarctic Research and Music, where Victoria is home to the acclaimed New Zealand String Quartet. The University’s strengths also run to Film and Media Studies, Political Science and International Relations, Architecture and Design, and Earth Sciences. In 2008, Humanities and Social Sciences at Victoria were ranked in the Top 100 in the world by the U.K. Times Higher Education Supplement (THES). Study abroad students have the opportunity to take a wide range of courses at different levels depending on the individual student’s background in the subject area.

University of the South Pacific

The University of the South Pacific (USP) is the premier institution of higher learning for the South Pacific region, uniquely placed in a region of extraordinary physical, social and economic diversity.

Established in 1968, USP is the only university of its type in the world. It is jointly owned by the governments of twelve island countries: Cook Islands, Fiji, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Nauru, Niue, Solomon Islands, Tokelau, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu and Samoa. The University has campuses in all the twelve member countries. The main campus, Laucala, is in Fiji.

The University of the South Pacific’s main campus is located among pleasant surroundings in Suva. The site of a former New Zealand sea-plane base, the campus includes a small botanical garden and the USP Oceania Centre for the arts. AIFS provides a Social and Cultural Coordinator and an Academic Coordinator from the University to supervise the program.