Massey University

Massey University is a university based in New Zealand, with significant campuses in Palmerston North, Auckland and Wellington. Massey University has approximately 27,533 students, 18,358 of whom study either partly or fully by distance. Research is undertaken on all three campuses and people from over 130 countries study at the university. Massey University is the only university in New Zealand offering degrees in aviation and veterinary medicine. Massey's veterinary school is accredited by the American Veterinary Medical Association and is recognised in the United States, Australia, Canada, and Britain. Massey's agriculture programme is the highest-ranked in New Zealand, and 60th in the Quacquarelli Symonds' (QS) 2023 world university subject rankings. Massey's Bachelor of Aviation (Air Transport Pilot) is an internationally recognised and accredited qualification, is the first non-engineering degree to be recognised by the Royal Aeronautical Society (1998), and has ISO9001-2000 accreditation. History The New Zealand Agricultural College Act of 1926 laid the foundation for the sixth college of the University of New Zealand (UNZ). It allowed for the amalgamation of the agricultural schools of Victoria University College in Wellington and Auckland University College to establish the New Zealand Agricultural College. In 1927 the Massey Agricultural College Act was passed, renaming the college Massey Agricultural College after former New Zealand Prime Minister William Fergusson Massey, who died in 1925 and had been vigorous in land reform efforts. The Massey Agricultural College Council first met on 1 February 1927, and the Batchelar property, near the present Turitea site, was purchased that June. The college was officially opened for tuition on 20 March 1928 by Minister of Agriculture Oswald Hawken. The first woman to enrol was Enid Hills, who enrolled in 1932.