Abstract

The article analyses the reform of tertiary education in New Zealand. It focuses on the policy frameworks, paradigms and ideas underlying the reform process, providing an overall account of the complex interaction between the various levels of government and the many different stakeholders involved in tertiary education. The case selected is a good example of policy change, since the reform developed in a very short time-span and in a very radical way. As for the methodology, the study is mainly based on a thick description of the process and a series of in-depth interviews to the main actors involved in the case-study.