AUT celebrates 2025 UniPrep graduates
AUT’s South Campus was one of celebration last Friday as 206 school leavers graduated from the University’s UniPrep programme.
By graduating from UniPrep, the students have gained a head start on their tertiary journeys as the programme’s academic component, Uni101, is the equivalent of a first year, university level paper.
AUT Vice-Chancellor, Professor Damon Salesa says, “Now in its 11th year, UniPrep has established itself as a sector-leading programme and a source of pride for our University. The programme’s high success rate shows that in the right learning and teaching environments, which honour the cultural backgrounds and experiences of our students, our students thrive.
“We are immensely proud of this year’s rangatahi who have graduated from UniPrep 2025. We celebrate them for realising their potential and taking a life-changing first step towards achieving a tertiary education.
“We know this will significantly benefit them, their whānau and wider community significantly over their lifetime,” he says.
2025 UniPrep student, Maia Lusia Anitele’a, says, “AUT and UniPrep itself provides so many resources and outlets for student support services academically.
“But what makes UniPrep different to anything else I’ve experienced or encountered was its whānau culture. My culture was embedded into the veins of UniPrep. I was safe here and I was seen. Not only that, I was surrounded by a community of people who gave me more purpose and reason to enter into university and finish it off.”
UniPrep is specifically designed to prepare and support Māori, Pacific and other high school leavers in their transition to becoming successful university students. Over the past 11 years, UniPrep has supported more than 2,900 school leavers into university, with course cohorts averaging 77% Pacific, 11% Māori and 7% Asian participants each year.
Many of the 2025 UniPrep Pou Whirinaki (Peer Mentors) and those working in the UniPrep Media Team are current AUT students. Over the course of the five-week programme, the former have gained valuable mentoring and leadership opportunities, and the latter, a range of digital media development opportunities they can apply to their own tertiary studies and future careers.
The course includes academic workshops, diverse social and cultural activities, course and career counselling, support and resources, and engagement opportunities for whānau. It not only equips students with the necessary skills to thrive at university but also provides a holistic academic, cultural and social preparation to help shape their future at AUT.