12787 (2026). Hon Ginny Andersen to the Minister for Tertiary Education

12787 (2026). Hon Ginny Andersen to the Minister for Tertiary Education: How many, if any, funding applications for new providers were considered by the TEC funding panel for the 2026 Investment Round and for each new provider that the TEC funding panel recommended declining, if any, what was the name of the provider, the amount that was applied for and the reasons why it was recommended for a decline?

Hon Penny Simmonds: I have been informed by Tertiary Education Commission the funding panel makes recommendations to the appropriate decision maker (being either the Deputy Chief Executive- Delivery, Chief Executive or the TEC Board). For the 2026 Investment Round 13 new provider applications were considered by the Investment Panel. The Investment Panel recommended to decline five new provider applications and conditionally approve three new provider applications. The three that were conditionally approved were informed that the Tertiary Education Commission supports the delivery, but it cannot confirm whether funding will be available until after June 2026.