Study Abroad in New Zealand

The Maori people, the indigenous inhabitants of New Zealand, heavily influence New Zealand’s culture. You might get a chance to learn the Maori language, and you’ll see Maori words and street names all over. While New Zealanders tend to eat a lot of red meat, it’s generally quite easy to get by as a vegetarian. Vegans, however, might have a hard time due to the prevalence of dairy.

Participants will attend a high school in their local community (also locally referred to as ‘colleges’). They can expect to take part in learning opportunities both inside and outside the classroom and embark on cultural experiences which are unique to New Zealand’s school curriculum.

The people of Aotearoa embrace all that its mountains, rivers, lakes and coastlines have to offer, so expect to take on some outdoor challenges when you are not at school!

Uru mai ki a matou! Join us! We would love to host you!

Kiwi homes can be town houses or apartments, large family homes on suburban streets, or small, century old wooden houses on farms. It all depends on what community your host family belongs to, and what a day in the life of that family looks like! Even though there are differences in housing types, there are some shared commonalities:

• Almost all Kiwi homes have pets. If you live in a rural area your host family may have cows, sheep, pigs, chickens and horses as well – not inside but close to the family home. This means that it is challenging to accommodate participants with allergies, and vital that all allergies are disclosed during the application process.
• Not all Kiwi homes have air conditioning or central heating. This means that in summer houses may be hot, and in winter they could be cold. Kiwis are hardy people, so when its cold they just put on an extra sweater, and when it’s hot they wear shorts and go barefoot.  Be ready for different attitudes towards temperatures!
• Like most other Western countries, household compositions in New Zealand are varied and culturally diverse. New Zealand is very lucky to have people from many different countries in its communities, so this means our host families are often from Europe, Asia, South America and several Pacific Islands. Being Kiwi therefore means being all kinds of cultures and ways of living, and that comes with different ways of eating, different religious beliefs and different household interests. Participants will need to embrace this diversity!

July 2026 – September 2026

USD 4,300

Participant Date of Birth:

January 10, 2009 to June 10, 2010

January 31, 2026

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